101: At Death's Door
by r0ssma07
Summary: Post-Ultimatum REVISED : When the League took in ex-Ultimen member, Longshadow, they had no idea what they would be in for with a nuclear threat upon the horizon, the heroes must choose to save the world or save the life of a beloved friend and hero;BM/WW
1. Author's Note

HI EVERYONE!

Dear Readers,

So after much prodding to my stubborn self, I've decided to give it try writing fan fiction for my favorite shows including Justice League Animated. I'm also giving all readers a fair warning: this if my first fic, so it's likely to suck so I'm gonna try my best, but I love any reviews, suggestions, even complaints would be cool.

For this fiction, I don't know about everyone else but I was pretty let down, when JLU ended with a lot unresolved story lines. One that stuck out was whatever happened to the original Ultimen, especially Longshadow, so I've decided to make up my own. This is Post-Ultimatum and Pre-Dark Heart time periods, and the Dark Knight is compiling enough information for his showdown with Amanda Waller as seen in The Doomsday Sanction.

Another story line that needs a definite resolve is BM/WW drama, which is probably going to be an underlying topic in most of my fics. So, that's my main goal in writing, speculating potential gaps in the series and writing on what I think. So enjoy, and hopefully you will grow to like my fiction.

Peace,

R0SSMA07

P.S: Norm disclaimers, I'm not making any money off these characters or story lines, etc. etc. etc.

****Update** 11/24/2008**

Wow, it's been a long time working on this story, and my apologies for taking so long to update just that well, life got in the way and all. But the story's back, and hopefully many more to come. I've actually working on and off on this one, and couple other ideas but most the chapters are already written, ready to be uploaded once my awesome Grammar friend reads over everything... so here it goes again :-)

Also, I should warn any readers about the major revisions in all the chapters; same story though. Okay, I think that's it, please R&R and have an awesome week!

Peace,

R0SSMA07 :-D


	2. Prologue

Disclaimer: Blah blah, none of these characters belong to me (I wish, jk...) P.S. More revised chapters to follow with one new chapter completed and ready to be uploaded hopefully by tonight...

**Prologue**

_It was happening again_…

Longshadow made an unnoticeable grimace as he strode away from his mission teammates towards his private quarters at the Watchtower, his new home for the past three months.

"Hey stilts!"That was his new nickname given by the Green Arrow as he and two other League members, the Flash and John Stewart, left for the cafeteria. "Come eat with us! You did one hell of a job on that Sahara mission."

"Yeah, Giganta didn't even know what hit her." Called the Flash, nearly vibrating to get his caloric nourishment from the blessed, cafeteria food; it was Hammy Saturday for tonight's menu.

"Naw" smiled Longshadow, a prickling feeling was beginning to creep along his spine, "T-Thanks though, you know, I really appreciate it."

"You earned it kid." The Green Lantern nodded at the indigo-haired, young man, "The other rookies could learn a thing or two from you."

"Really?" asked Longshadow.

"Yeah," Green Arrow nudged Green Lantern, his next remark referring to a cousin of a certain Boy Scout, "Like how to listen."

Longshadow's grin grew even wider if that was possible, proud of his progress thus far since the incident at Keystone City over three months ago. Unfortunately, his elation was short lived as the prickling turned into the usual migraine causing him to stagger into his room; he scrambled for the black box in his medicine cabinet.

Pulling a blue-liquidated syringe, he forcefully injected the serum into his right thigh, while leaning against the nearest wall; he sighed as the pain began to ease away.

'_A temporary solution'_, he thought bitterly, closing his eyes as the fatigue began to set in.

She had promised that they would find a cure for him that the League would do everything in their power to help him: to give him life once more and to find his Ultimen comrades if they needed help. She was Wonder Woman after all, she embodied a spirit of hope and truth; Princess Diana wouldn't break such any of her promises.

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A brown-haired, bespectacled scientist presented several X-Ray slides of selected experiments given at "Location X12."

"What I have to show you are both incredibly intriguing and disturbing for security purposes." Began professor Emil Hamilton, "This concerns specimen generation Y203, also known as the Longshadow Initiatives."

The X Ray images lit up the dark room showing different bone structures of progressing Longshadow clones.

"The first batch produced several specimen of Longshadows numbers one through 50 that were all failures, no doubt, showing signs of bone degeneration preventing its body mass expansion, similar to the meta powers found in the League's Atom Smasher. Our second batch was more successful in sustaining the bone structure of the specimen, but they carried an inability to grow expansively. They were disposed of immediately in the fire chambers. Finally, we were able to yield the specimen used for the Ultimen negotiations, which turned out to be the most successful of them all. I perceived no flaws inheriting super strength, super hearing, stamina, speed and durability; they were the perfect specimen against the League."

"Well, you were wrong, weren't you?" spoke a livid Amanda Waller, angry that the meeting was called at such an unholy, morning hour. "I reviewed the data, the experiments showed high levels of emotional, and physical instability. We needed soldiers with no signs of feelings or insubordination. Highly trained fighters that rival those in the League, that was a goal for the Cadmus project, your job, Hamilton!"

"I know ma'am, and I apologize for the setbacks." grimaced the Professor; she wasn't going to like the next piece of information, "Well, that wasn't the only problem with Generation Y203..."

Waller faltered, "What do you mean?"

Hamilton then began to display visuals of red serum within the skeletal form of a Longshadow specimen. "In order to stabilize both the bone and muscle mass to promote its meta growth, we had to insert small amounts of a substance extracted from a mix of uranium and nitro glycoside."

"Uranium?" asked Waller, "The Longshadows had uranium running through their bones, and Nitroglyceride? "

"Actually, it's nitro glycoside, Nitroglyceride is a more of a gaseous form of-"

Waller furiously tore down the slide, "So, you are trying to tell me that the Longshadows are walking weapons of mass destruction?"

The Professor nodded, delivering another slide of the final, progression stages with an Longshadow experiment showing bright, neon colored liquid running through its structure. "We were able to stabilize one deceased Longshadow to do an autopsy revealing strong amounts of liquidated, nuclear extracts that developed from both their skeletal and blood circulation systems."

"Nuclear energy running through their veins? My god, the average human carries five liters worth, and Generation Y203's special abilities was..."

"Yes, its meta growth would increase the amount of nuclear energy within its system making the specimen even more hazardous than before. As you know, Longshadows degenerate faster every time they meta grow taking 25 days off their longevity, while affecting their behaviors, emotions, and even their actions. Besides the instability, I have also unfortunately discovered that the more they use their powers, the more unstable the nuclear energy resulting eventually in a massive combustion that could potentially take out half of the globe."

"Half the globe? My God Hamilton!" said Waller, she was this close to walking to her office and filling out his pink slip; no we need him to finish the other project, "Well, good thing we had most of that Ultimen generation disposed of, along with Generation Y203. What exactly is the problem? Besides you being a very dangerous liability to our future projects."

Professor Hamilton gulped nervously, sometimes he wondered why he even volunteered for this assignment in the first place, "Well ma'am, I woke up to the news this morning concerning the League's success stopping Giganta and the Shade in the Sahara yesterday, and I was shocked to see a very alive, healthy-looking Longshadow from the Ultimen disaster in Keystone City."

"Well, that is a problem," Waller turned on the news screen showing coverage of the amazing battle, and an interview with the new, League hero of the day: Longshadow. "I underestimated the League in keeping him alive for so long, I never expected him to live at least longer than the others..."

"Should we warn them?" asked Hamilton, "I mean, they should know about the potential danger."

Waller turned away from the screen, "I would rather see them burn, but we'll have to take the following precautions..."

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An hour later, Hamilton was heading quickly towards his medical office; he had to start working on both Waller's plan, and another plan on the way...

"Professor Hamilton" said a voice behind his back turned chair as he entered his office, "I assume all goes well with our plan?"

"Your plan, General" Hamilton turned to find his case study binders, "I never wanted to do anything that extreme, and even worse lying to Waller about using that of kind power on a specimen, and for what exactly?."

"A vendetta, and it's was more like you were bending the truth," General Wade Eiling faced the professor, "Besides you saw what the League did to our system; what they could already know? What they will do to us before we're even ready with our plans for a defense? We can't let them get that far, and its about time we put a ending to all of this."

"But you saw what they did to that Lord guy," Hamilton shuddered thinking about the tense drive of the one and only Amanda Waller, she wouldn't let anyone get in her way especially in the form of insubordination, "I can't imagine what she would do to us."

"Well, then let's make sure she doesn't find out," the General began to make his exit, "I have a meeting with the sorceress. Get the dosage ready, Hamilton, and let Waller handle the rest; everything should be fine by week's end..."

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Two Days Later...

Here is the new information found on the Top Secret area located in La Havana, Cuba...

The Dark Knight looked over information sent from Oracle on a potential location of one of the Cadmus Labs. Looking over his investigation on the financial whereabouts of Maxwell Lord, Batman was able to discover a money trail leading to a facility located south of the Florida coast.

Location: Cuba, La Havana?

Facility: Cadmus, bought a year ago

Benefactor: Numerous, non-governmental; potential underground business

Visitors: Amanda Waller visits twice every other month

Other notes: all experiments go in, and never come out; potential location for disposal of failed experiments. All scientific logs highly confidential; difficult encryption coding, but nothing I can't handle...

'A place where all experiments go in, and never come out, a perfect place where the Ultimen would have been taken', thought Batman as he removed his cowl before scanning more information.

He massaged his temple; Bruce Wayne should be investigating more important matters concerning the Cadmus Project like the appearance of a Supergirl clone, Galatea or, even better, its connection with the United States government. Why was he putting more effort in finding the whereabouts of renegade Ultimen?

For what he could recall, tt was the look in her eyes, a hopeless look, when J'onn J'onzz relayed his findings dashing more hopes of Longshadow's survival.

"...I'm guessing a year or two from now at least, but his system is too infected with a chemical I'm having trouble identifying; as soon as I can figure out the structure of his cellular matrix, then I can perform a stronger treatment enough to even cure him…"

Wonder Woman stared blankly through the east window gazing at the bright the sun as awoke the sleeping planet, that they had all sworn to protect; much like how she had sworn to protect Longshadow...

"Is there anything else that could have done? Something we might have missed…" Superman asked, he too had become fond of the newest member, and he did not want anything to happen to the young hero too.

"It's no use, saying what we could or could not do." interrupted Batman, "We need to keep him on his current treatment, and make sure he has required physicals managed by J'onn; sustain him as long as possible until we can figure what to do."

J'onn nodded, "Yes, His system is responding to the serum, very well and it's seems be stabilizing him at quicker rate than before, preventing any further degeneration."

"If he does begin too, well degenerate, what do we do then? We don't have enough information on his structure to assure his safety and health if something should happen." Began Wonder Woman, she turned to her three fellow teammates.

"We'll there is no way predict when it will happen. We just need to make him as comfortable as possible" said Superman, "Assure, him that we will do everything we can to keep him safe."

J'onn J'onnz put a comforting hand on Diana's shoulder, "Diana, I promise you, we will help him for as long as possible, no matter what."

"Thank you J'onn" smiled Wonder Woman; Batman couldn't help but catch the forlorn look in her magnificent blue eyes; Superman gave another comforting pat on her shoulder, and left them alone.

There were moments such as this when Batman would just let himself just simply, conspicuously though, as the sun gave the woman before him an ethereal glow accentuating her raven locks and rosy complexion. I need to stop, thought Batman, becoming entranced by an enigmatic glow that seemed to emanate from her, which both thrilled and frankly scared him.

She looked up, and their eyes met (blue eyes to Cowl-covered ones), and Batman realized that Diana was posed to ask a question.

"What is it Diana?" Batman turned toward the window

Wonder Woman smiled, "You know me so well, Bruce." She approached the balcony to his right, "Longshadow has been telling me concerns over the whereabouts of his Ultimen teammates."

"I've told you all the information I was able to learn thus far-"

"I know, but lately he's been these horrible dreams" She turned away from the window, leaning against the rail; Batman moved a couple inches, her floral fragrance was distracting.

"Dreams, of what? His 'Cadmus' days?"

"No, of his friends, screaming for him; for help?" Wonder Woman felt sadness over fates of the other four teenagers, "I just don't think that Maxwell Lord kept his promise, to protect them; Longshadow feels that they could be in danger too, or worse."

"Dead" Diana agreed, Batman sighed he too had secretly presumed that Lord's promise was ill-perceived, "And you want me to investigate further, find out what happened to them."

"Or what is happening to them" She corrected; smiling he always needed to get right to the point. "I'm sure you have enough resources in that Batcave of yours for a whole library's worth of information."

Yes, but I was already investigating more important matters at hand, thought Bruce, but it was both the next flirtation and the look in her eyes that made him immediately head for Lord's abandoned apartment again after the conversation.

Sneakily, the princess had strategically placed herself in front of him, his regaining eye contact with mischievous smile, "Unless, Batman, you don't feel like you're up for it?"

My god, this woman is probably going to be the death of me, the un-Batmanly thought came into his mind upon his expressionless face, while gazing at the princesses' beautiful smile; just waiting to be kissed. He slightly leaned his head closer, if only at a different time and place of priority...Batman forced himself to only look into her eyes, and he saw what had made him completely committed to this project: a look of hopelessness that her new friend and novice would sadly be no more in the coming months or year. And he couldn't stand seeing that look upon her face; he needed ease all of worries, and find the truth…

"I'll find out some more information," Batman walked past, a successful Wonder Woman staring after his exit, "And I will contact you as soon as I find anything. But Diana, don't get your hopes up."

"That's much appreciated, Batman" Diana called after him; she had just earned herself a congratulatory Iced Mocha. I told Wally I could get him to help me...

Two days later with ten folders of hardware encryption information, Bruce realized that Diana was unfortunately right about Lord keeping his promise. Carefully following up leads and couple of forced confessions from one of the former security guards at the lab all led to his presumption that about three of the four teens had already been "disposed" of; all apparently suffering from a volatile degeneration; for precautionary measures, Bruce was so far trying to figure that out.

Volatile degeneration, Batman read over again, he hoped that did not mean what he thought it mean. Could it be that Ultimen were even more destructive during their final stages of life? Or even worse, could Longshadow also be considered under the same category, perhaps also destructive during his final hour.

If so, then the League had a lot more to worry about; Batman rubbed his temple once more; _it was going to be a very long night..._

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	3. The Reaper Calls

Disclaimer: Blah blah, none of these characters belong to me (I wish, jk...) P.S. More revised chapters to follow with one new chapter completed and ready to be uploaded hopefully by tonight...

**The Reaper Calls...**

_Three weeks later, Sunday…_

As the original six, not seven as of Hawkgirl's departure, the team members were required to attend weekly meetings at the main conference room located in the East Wing of the Watchtower; even Batman had to at least make one meeting a month. As of three months ago, the meetings carried the usual agenda: monitor duty assignments, assigned teams for upcoming missions, crime statistics, government matters, foreign aid, charities, criminals, villains, and even the occasional fan club letter to lighten up the mood (Batman's least favorite topic). But lately ever since the League first encountered the meta-control agency, Cadmus, the meetings took a more somber and serious tones in the assignments and investigations; this definitely put the Flash in a humorless mood.

"Batman, any updates on the Cadmus Project?" The Man of Steel, as usual, began the main topic of the meeting; Flash slumped in his seat and sighed, he had hoped for a new criminal or anything beside the Cadmus project.

"The usual," replied Batman. "Cadmus funding is from a non-governmental source from what I'm concerned is that the group is carrying out covert operations that bypass even Congressional funding. I've already ruled out the source being Amanda Waller since her bank accounts are politically funded, and she would not want to raise any suspicions from her superiors at Capitol Hill."

"So, if it's not the government, do you have any ideas on someone else?" asked Superman hopefully.

Batman was two steps close to sighing being the fifth time the Boy Scout had questioned him on this topic, and he would always receive the same answer: there was not enough evidence to find out who is behind the Cadmus Project, and the only way to gain more information was to follow the money trail, which had now lead to a dead end.

"No." Batman lowered his tone, hoping Superman would understand that for the time being this was a very complicated investigation requiring a lot of time and patience.

"Not even Maxwell Lord?" To Batman's irritation, Superman continued on the subject, "Are you sure you've investigated every part of his account?"

Now Batman was known for a mastered control of patience only unleashing his anger on the unfortunate criminals in Gotham; for once, after six days of no sleep, Bruce Wayne's control was on the edge.

"Kal" said the reasoning, diplomatic voice of Diana as she glanced at Bruce to acknowledge his irritation with their colleague and friend. "I know you are worried, and I am too, but Batman has gone through all the leads thoroughly including that of Maxwell Lord. Remember, last meeting when-"

"Woah!" exclaimed Flash perking up, while sensing the tension among the two polar opposites of the group. "Wondy, you actually remember who says what during these meetings? I tell you, this girl's amaz- OW!"

Green Lantern had thankfully smacked the red-hooded hero in the head allowing Wonder Woman to continue.

"Remember when we discussed the Times report on the richest stockholders in the world?" explained Diana, "Batman pointed out the public caption reporting Lord's now-bankrupt status. We ascertained that when he exposed the Ultimen experiments to the League and close to the public eye, Cadmus dropped him and destroyed his reputation including his financial assets."

"Lord is M.I.A, has not been seen since the Ultimen incident," finished Batman.

Superman nodded, "Than, I guess we are at a dead end…"

"No, point in talking about it until we encounter them again," said Batman, thankful for Diana's intervention; it was strange, but he was starting to like how she knew him so well especially when he was reaching his limits. _'You know her pretty well too' said a tiny, annoying voice…_

"Actually, we have more thing to talk about," said Diana; folding her hands on table in a regal poise that Batman had grown familiar with. "We still do not know what exactly happened to the original Ultimen, and I would like to know if they are alright."

"And Longshadow wants to know what happened to his friends" said Green Lantern recalling twice when the young man would talk worriedly about the fate of his former comrades, "He misses them, and wants know about their status, and if they're alive."

"Do you think they are receiving the same treatment as Longshadow?" asked Superman.

"I doubt it." Said Batman, "Obviously whatever happened to them, no one wants the public to find out."

"Hence their disappearance?" asked Green Lantern, receiving a nod from Batman.

"I know, it's just I wonder…" began Diana, her expression turning downcast.

"How long?" finished Batman, Diana nodded.

"I feel as if I am placating him by telling him that we'll find something to help him."

"That's how we all feel." agreed Lantern watching Flash slump in his chair once more, while mumbling, "I never thought of it that way..."

"We're-I feel like am making the most promises to him that I can't keep anymore; I feel like I have to watch everything I'm saying when worrying how much time he has left, whether or not he has enough…" asked Diana, staring at the other five for recognition.

Superman gave Diana one of his best optimistic smiles, "No, he has enough time, I'm sure we can find-"

"He probably doesn't have enough time." interrupted Batman, staring directly at Diana preparing to give her some of the honest truth, "More than likely the medicine, that J'onn and I concocted, can only sustain him for so long."

Flash spoke up, "How long?"

"It depends on the degeneration of his cellular matrix," replied J'onn.

Batman kept watching Diana's reaction, noting the glassy reflection off her beautiful eyes, "Any day, or even another six months, it depends on his own system. But every physical since the past two weeks, shows he's deteriorating at a inconsistent pace."

Superman placed a hand on Diana's shoulder for comfort knowing that she was closer to Longshadow than any of them, "All we could do now is comfort him, and keep him happy, while he is here. He's doing great, from what I see, he's living his dream joining the League and making a bunch of new friends."

Green Lantern agreed, "Yeah, he misses the Ulitmen at times, but he wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world."

"Plus, he has a major crush on you" added Flash putting a comforting hand on Diana's other shoulder, "I'm just saying, why not spend his last hour with one of the hotte- OW!"

This time, Batman got the swing on Flash's head before turning to Diana, "I'll follow up on more leads concerning the whereabouts of the Ultimen, and hopefully find out how we can help Longshadow."

Diana thankfully nodded, and smiled, "Thank you"

Superman stood up in his usual Man of Steel pose signaling the end of the meeting. "Well on that note, this-"

"Yes!" shouted Flash, he zoomed happily out of the conference room in a blink of an eye causing all the agenda papers and chairs to fly all over the room.

"FLASH!" called out Wonder Woman as everyone stared at the new mess.

"At least, he left at the end of meeting this time," commented Green Lantern as he stood to make his exit. Superman, and J'onn followed him, as Batman stood, watching Diana pick up each paper meticulously off the ground, and into a neat pile on the table.

Now, there are certain times on Watchtower, when the moonlight briefly glances through one of port windows creating a glow on each object. Right now, Bruce was transfixed by a white glow that continued emanate from Diana's figure. The light outlined her raven tresses, brightened her azure eyes, and softened her facial features, while delineating every curve on her blessed body. She than turned to pick up an overturned chair, giving Batman a nice view of her-

"Well, this is new…" Her voice interrupted his thoughts, causing him to place his tingling hands behind his back, as she slowly turned to face him.

"At least for the Batman," she continued with tentative smile, "You actually stayed two minutes longer after a meeting, you are usually a step behind Wally whenever you even show."

"I-I" _You're actually stuttering, Bruce, remember the Batman never stutters; well for Diana it always seemed to make an exception_, "Longshadow, what else did he confide in you?"

_Always business with the Batman._ "He knows that his time is short so he is living each of his days to the fullest. But Batman, I can sense it, what he is feeling…" Her face suddenly was downcast, "He's very frightened about what could happen to him, and I think he just doesn't want the rest of us to know about his fears."

_Comfort her._ "I'm sure he knows you're doing the best you can in helping him."

"Am I? Giving him a false doesn't really define an honest friendship."

"Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, and people like Longshadow deserve more than that. He deserves you, and I wouldn't expect anything less from what you give in any of your friendships, Diana," replied Batman before making a about-faced turn for an dramatic exit away from another uncomfortable conversation.

"Does that include my friendship with you, Batman? When there could be so much more? I could give you so much more..."

He stopped himself, both physically and emotionally, the Batman never exactly stopped especially for women or feelings. But Diana was definitely no ordinary woman that he had ever encountered, even as Bruce Wayne. Is that where the attraction was coming from? 'No', thought Bruce, it came from something else, which is why he needed to continue his distance as the glow that continued to emanate from her created the same effect as a moth to a flame. Worst of all, it was getting harder and harder every minute he was around her remembering the reasons why he shouldn't touch her, be with her, and actually have something more than friendship…

"I'm fine with that too, Diana, and you should accept that." Bruce continued to walk away, away from her, away from what he wanted or what he thought he needed. Ignore her, the Batman reminded himself, needed to continue protecting Gotham City with no more "distractions."

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The main topic of the previous conversation was having another nightmare as he tossed and turned after taking another dose of serum, and falling into a exhausted sleep.

_The Watchtower was in a state of chaos, technological equipment and various other members of Justice League laid a strewn all around Longshadow as he stood in alone on the center platform. _

_People were yelling, some at him and others yelling for emergency help, what the hell had happened and why was he to blame?_

_The most distinct voice came from an ailing Wildcat, "What the hell did you do kid? Look what you did!"_

"_What I did?" thought Longshadow, before feeling a familiar hand touch his shoulder. He turned to a very injured Wonder Woman, Diana had a bloody gash on her forehead and several bruises all over the rest of her body; she was nursing an awkwardly protruding arm. _

"_Diana? Are you-" She suddenly faltered and the young hero quickly grabbed her, before catching a frightening glimpse of himself from her shiny gold tiara; he was glowing a bloody red through strange cracks all about his body, and his eyes had taken a similar color. _

_The princess whispered, "What have you done?" _

"No!" Longshadow shouted, soaked in sweat and breathing heavily having one of many nightmares during the past couple weeks. Before he used to have visions on the fates of his four friends, the Ultimen, now he had apocalyptic visions of a destroyed Watchtower; peculiarly, one common hero seemed to always show up just as beaten and battered as the other heroes around him: Wonder Woman.

And most of all his worries, everyone seemed to blame the chaos and destruction on him, but the bigger questions was how and why would he do such a horrible thing? Creating so much chaos...

"Hey rookie?" came a small voice on his dresser, "Come in to rookie, answer me please now!"

He dumbly searched for his small communicator grabbing it and putting it up to his ear, "Yeah, I'm here"

"Nice to hear from you too, buddy!" replied a disgruntled Flash, who was probably on monitor duty having to assign missions, "What's you status?"

"Oh, I'm-"

"Doesn't matter, you've been called on an emergency mission in Kolkata" Longshadow heard some papers being ruffled, "Don't remember were that is exactly, I'm guessing… Greece?"

"India, it's in West Bengal," Longshadow began slipping on his shirt, "Um, Flash, you wouldn't happen to know, er, who the team leader is…"

"Now that is something, I can tell you," Longshadow found himself hoping as usual that… "Wondy, she's, you know, running it; doing her thing."

Longshadow was getting dressed a little more quickly, "Oh really? Um, thanks Flash."

"Have fun," chuckled the Flash before ending the conversation.

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Longshadow was the first to arrive on the teleportation pad, hearing bits and pieces on the mission from the surrounding monitors. Weather Wizard and Volcana had teamed up, disrupting weather patterns with sporadic hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and even aftershocks causing high incidences of tsunamis. The League had firmly waited for formal notification to intervene, under Wonder Woman's wise discretion; the group was already on a world notice for "unnecessary", international involvement in missions bordering on political and cultural issues. The League roster for the mission included Ice, Hawk, Dove, Elongated Man, and him. She came two minutes after his arrival as J'onn informed her on the coordinates of the two villains.

"Right," began Diana, as Team Leader it was her job to coordinate the mission, "Damage control, send Dove, Hawk, and Elongated Man on the outskirts of the city; we'll send two carriers to help transport any civilians. The rest of us will take an offensive to Weather Wizard and Volcana, any questions?"

"Damage Control! Why does damage control always sound like crowd control?" groaned Elongated Man, looking at the others for support, each of them knowing that questioning Princess Diana was not only stupid, but even dangerous.

Wonder Woman lifted her regal head from reading the mission briefing giving a signature look with her raised eyebrow, "Ralph, would you like to be put on crowd control?"

"Um-" He suddenly felt very alone as the others headed swiftly, very swiftly, to the teleportation platform.

"Perhaps on another mission?" continued Wonder Woman; she was now only two inches away from his face making him wonder whether or not he should be afraid or slightly aroused. "Maybe with Batman as your team leader for a month?"

Everyone knew that you were definitely up for challenge when Batman was your team leader; at least with Diana, you could, negotiate in getting some action after completing "damage control". But with Batman, it was do or die, with his patented glare being the least of your worries if you screwed up on any of his missions.

"No." He squeaked.

"Than I suggest, as your team leader, you get on that platform, and do as your told!" Putting her hands on her waist, "Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes." He bit his tongue stopping himself from iterating 'ma'am', and did a Batmanly about-turn to the platform.

"Good," said Wonder Woman, she followed him.

J'onn who was mentally laughing, pressed the button for atom refiguration. "Teleport sequence on three and good luck."

Longshadow smiled at Diana as she stepped onto the pad next to him, "I think you do a great job, I mean you always do, b-but now, I mean…you are, I mean you did great."

"Thank you, Longshadow," smiled Diana, as the multitude of lights began to gather symmetrically around the group.

"Man, she's even nicer to the rookie than me!" mumbled Elongated Man to Dove, who only smiled, ready for the strange sensation of having all your atoms transported through space to earth.

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Civic Center Building, Kolkata…

"Longshadow!" shouted Wonder Woman avoiding being pelted by the lightening strikes delivered by Weather Wizard, who was currently fighting the young hero. At the same time, Wonder Woman was levitating, while trying to hold Volcana's arms down giving Ice a full advantage in her attacks, "His weather rod! That's what control the storms!"

"Right," Longshadow used his superhearing from his 50-foot stature hearing the villain scramble behind one of the decimated office buildings hiding in a corridors directly in front of him.

Suddenly, he felt a stinging pain at the back of his neck; one of the lightening bolts had struck hard causing him to shrink back to normal size. Damn, he thought, trying to concentrate on growing, realizing that he could not summon the ability with an injury so close to his spine.

'_But I can still hear him'_He stood up, noting that Weather Wizard was now three yards behind him cowering behind broken rubble that was deeply submerged in six inches of puddle. The hero slowly reached down for a stray iron rod next to his foot, listening to the wizard prepare for another lightening attack. He whipped around, tossing the rod at the villian, who caught it in his left hand involuntarily connecting the iron to his electric, weather rod. Longshadow than heard a distinct girlish shriek along with simultaneous splash from a defeated Weather Wizard.

"Longshadow, heads up!" shouted Ice, as Wonder Woman uppercut Volcana into the building behind him before Ice made her final attack immobilizing the villainess in a onslaught of snow and ice.

"Good work, Longshadow!" Wonder Woman landed gracefully next to Longshadow lassoing Weather Wizard in its secure hold.

**Creak!**

Longshadow turned to his right just in time to see a billboard adjacent to the building fall forward; thankfully he was able to push Diana out of the way before preparing for the sudden impact that pushed him through the concrete structure into a parking garage below.

Diana and Ice watched as the young hero was buried under the huge sign taking the rest of the civic building down with him; both women shouted his name.

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"_Diana? Please tell me what happened" Longshadow slightly had to shake the injured Wonder Woman who was slowly losing consciousness, "What happened Diana?"_

_She peered up at him weakly, and whispered, "The infirmary, you almost kille-"_

**Thump!**

A large piece of debris landed heavily upon the young hero's head as he felt an icky, wet coldness surrounding him. He sputtered dirt and mud from his mouth realizing that he had been knocked out unconscious for over three minutes. Squaring his shoulders, he lifted himself up, while noting the wreckage around him; he must have fallen to the very last level of the garage below the building.

Unsteadily, he stood with the only light available coming from a blaring car alarm as its lights flashed on and off.

'Grow!' thought Longshadow, trying to summon his power unsuccessfully, if only he could grow, and simply step out of the tiny garage; instead, he received a throbbing pain at the back of his neck, one of the symptoms that signaled a need for his medicine soon.

He pressed the emergency red button on his communicator "Mission Control, Wonder Woman, come in!"

No verbal response followed, just static, as sparks began to fly from his broken communicator "Great, I can't grow, and my communicator doesn't even work,"

Suddenly, a new and heavily accented voice interrupted his musings, coming a couple feet behind him. "That's the least of your worries now, little man."

Longshadow turned as two dark, female figures approached; he already ascertained that they weren't Ice and Wonder Woman to his rescue or any help and friendly face for that matter, as he hastily grabbed a nearby cement block for protection.

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	4. A Tangled Web of Lies

Disclaimer: Blah blah, none of these characters belong to me (I wish, jk...) P.S. More revised chapters to follow with one new chapter completed and ready to be uploaded hopefully by tonight...

**A Tangled Web of Lies**

_Sunday (continued)…_

"And what are you two doing here?" Longshadow held the cement block tightly in his hand, ready to attack recognizing the two intruders as members from the Cadmus Project.

"I'm surprised how long the League had actually kept you alive, and in such good condition." said the woman nearest to him. Both Batman and Wonder Woman had showed him pictures of potential members of the Cadmus Project; he was definitely able to identify the shorter woman as the formidable, Amanda Waller. This wasn't the first time he had met her; first was when he was with the Ultimen, in their beginning months as they called the woman as "Ms. Waller," the kind benefactor who gave them their headquarters in Keystone City as a welcome "gift."

"I'm surprised as well." the next woman was taller, almost resembled a vampire of some sort with very light skin, thin facial features, long, violet hair and matching lips. He would have even considered her, beautiful, if it wasn't for her cold, colorless eyes that seemed to stare directly into his very soul.

"You better have a good reason for coming here. I'm with the League now, do you remember that?" He gave a warning before lifting up the block quickly, ready to attack, "I don't have to listen to you any-."

The purple woman simply lifted up her arm issuing a purple energy beam that knocked the block clear out of his hand, "I suggest you shut mouth. You have no place to warn anyone here boy, you have no idea who your dealing-"

"Hush Tala! " admonished Waller giving the woman a warning gesture, before whispering, "Remember what you are here for…now Mr. Longshadow, I assume you remember who I am?"

"Yeah," replied Longshadow growing a little uneasy as Tala, what Waller had called the woman, began to emit an eerie glow from her eyes as he felt a slight pressure on the back of his neck.

"Relax Longshadow," said Waller, Tala was now moving slowly around him, "You must know than from our past encounters that I only come for your well-being, to help you during this…sad time."

"I'm afraid to ask, now why should I be sad?"

Tala gave a small laugh behind him, "He really doesn't know? You have no idea, do you boy?"

_Boy?_ Okay, this conversation was going on long enough, thought Longshadow, slowly willing for the League to hurry up and rescue him already; _where are you Diana?_

"No," The young man tried to appear confident by adding a pretentious laugh to match the sorceress' own, "But I assume you're here to tell me? To um, like you said, 'help me'?"

Waller smiled, foolish boy, "Not just you, but all the others you can potentially harm."

He gulped nervously recalling his dreams, "Harm?"

"Yes harm, or most likely kill maybe hundreds or thousands," Waller smiled hoping to edge out a sign of weakness, "Maybe even a certain wonderful superhero…"

_Diana?_ Longshadow thought with a grimace, "What are you-"

"I am done, Ms. Waller," said Tala standing next to her superior proudly.

"Report?" asked Waller.

Tala looked directly at the young hero as the next few words would not only change his life, but the lives of those he cared about most, "You only have five more days to live starting from tomorrow's first sunlight…"

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"You lost the rookie!" exclaimed Elongated Man, "That's gonna leave a mark on someone's record." Obviously, referring to his past tiff with Wonder Woman, the team leader of the mission was removing debris with the help of Hawk from the crash site where they had last seen Longshadow. On a positive note, the other half of the team had successfully saved all the remaining people in the city without any causality from the weather attacks.

"We didn't lose him," replied Ice watching the rescue below, while the local authorities a couple feet away were loading a captured Weather Wizard and Volcana into a black van, "He fell protecting us from that billboard."

"I'm sure he's okay," said Dove, "If anyone can find him, let it be Wonder Woman."

"Yeah, let it be Wonder Woman" Elongated Man playfully punched Dove in his shoulder, "Any man would be happy to be found by Wonder Woman."

"Could you just shut up?" Ice shouted worriedly remembering how the young hero had taken quite a hit from not only a billboard, but also an entire building, "This can be really serious, he could be hurt or worse…"

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"Five days, until it all comes to an end? Starting tomorrow…" Longshadow was now sitting on the hood of a smashed car, the two intruders stood facing him, "How do you know this again?"

"I have my ways of knowing." He watched mesmerized as Tala formed a magic orb between her fingers, "You see, my powers not only extend to the magical realm. I am so powerful that I-"

"Tala is a sorceress, who can see into the future, and knows when someone's going to die." Waller watched him fiddle around with her orange folder now in his hands, "She has even been able to accurately predict the deaths of your cloned peers."

His eyes widened, _Oh God_, "The Ultimen, are they all dead?"

"Well-" Tala began, before receiving another warning glance from Waller.

"Yes, all of them have perished, and now we have come to help you."

"Help? What kind help could you people," He was too distressed to finish, all of them, all his friends, were gone and he couldn't help them at all…Regrets from the past began to enter his mind if only he had gone with them or had sought help from the League sooner to help the Ultimen. Or an the even bigger issue…

His voice slightly broke, "I-I trusted him, Max-Maxwell Lord, he gave his word that the Ultimen would have the best of care; what happened?"

"First of all, young man, Maxwell Lord was in no position to make such promises," explained Waller, "Secondly, who says we didn't take care of them? They were all comfortable, and I'm sure they thought of you in the end. But due to time restraints, I must get to more important matters at hand, in this folder-"

"No!" Longshadow stood up, "How could I ever trust you people? Give me one good reason why?"

Waller took a step closer, "Your future, Longshadow, has become a global and even universal concern. You see, not only will you die but your death could possibly destroy half of this planet; a fault, that we admit was of our own mistake in designing your matrix containing enough power of a nuclear bomb including Uranium."

"Uranium?"

"And nitro glycoside, do you know what that means?" Waller, she briefly looked at Tala, who seemed to be keeping a psychic eye on the rescue progress above, "Your structural design is very unstable, potentially catastrophic leading to destruction within a 500 mile radius, at the least."

"Wait! Let me guess this straight, you people literally made me a walking weapon of mass destruction." He pinched his nose in frustration, as if things in his life could get any worse, "So the real reason why you're here is damage control on one of your experiments."

"In a way, yes," said Waller, "Not only for what your degeneration is capable of, but for your well-being; I see that the League has been sustaining you with a cellular mass serum."

"How-"

"Don't ask me how, stay quiet, and listen carefully to the offer," Waller looked at Tala who would give her a signal when the league was close by, "We have done several studies of all the Longshadows leading up to you, who have each had a similar degeneration process; unfortunately, all of them have not been able to survive as long you have. Despite your fate, you are literally a scientific miracle-"

"Thanks to League."

Tala laughed at that, and Waller continued, "Yes, I guess thanks to the blessed League up there, but they can't keep you alive as long we could, not since we've have the more advanced research. You see, we have perfected our own stabilizing serum with something that can sustain you longer than your five day mark, maybe long enough to give you a cure."

"A cure?"

"Yes, a cure, our doctors have been working tirelessly with more research to help the last of the Longshadow specimen in the Ultimen generation, our last Ultiman; we'd hate to lose you, Longshadow. I can ensure you a long enough life past the five day mark, and even longer…"

"I'll be able to live," He could actually live a life day by day without worrying about seeing tomorrow, "A cure, but I can't, the League I owe them so much; they've helped me, much more than any of you people ever did."

"But are they telling you everything? They would not have been able to even detect the exact time of your degeneration, or the cloaked uranium within your system," she said, "As much as you hate it, you are product of Cadmus meaning that the people who created you are better equipped in finding you a cure."

"But she-they wouldn't break their promise," said Longshadow, "They promised that they would try everything in their power to help me."

"Well, they no longer have that power, at least not the kind they would experiment with," Waller pulled out a glass vial holding a glowing, dark purple substance, "Onyx, a Dark magic substance, and thanks to our sorceress Tala and our professor at Cadmus, we now have a more effective method in helping you."

"The serum that the League gave me, that works fine too."

Tala turned to whisper into Waller's ear, "They are three minutes out."

"Really? And how many times a day do you have to take an injection, may I ask?"

"Two, sometimes three times a day if I feel very weak," Even Longshadow was beginning to hear the worried voices of Wonder Woman, and Hawk from above.

"Really? Well, this right here, will only need to be taken once, and will sustain you much longer making you stronger, faster, and your powers will be greatly amplified; the more you take, the better you'll feel day by day," Waller handed him the vial for a closer inspection, "Think of this as a free sample, and there's more where that came from if you cooperate."

Longshadow was already feeling drawn to liquid vial, "And what do I have to do?"

"More information is in the folder including contact information and the location on where to get your daily dose, and after your fourth dosage we'll talk more details."

"Daily, I have to get this everyday? I don't know if I-"

"Do you want to live or not?"

Longshadow gulped, if he had any other choice; Waller was correct in that the scientists that created him would know more on how to cure him, "Yes, I mean, I need to think about this, ya know?"

"We have a minute Ms. Waller," A mystical purple circle formed around the pair as debris began to fall a couple feet above him.

"I'll tell you what Longshadow, take the vial and see how it works for you," Waller lifted up her wrist showing her watch, "Ten hours from now, if I don't receive an answer than I assume that you want to take your chances, and believe me Longshadow, no matter what the League does; the Cadmus Project will take our chances to protect this planet even if means we have to deliver a new fate for you."

"What about the League? What do I tell them?"

"Nothing, you tell them nothing, especially the Bat," commanded Waller, "Once you decide whose side your on, there will be no turning back; we'll know if you breath a word to them, and will do what we have to do to you or any of your little League friends."

"Don't forget what we talked about." Finished Tala, as she and Amanda Waller disappeared in an orb of purple smoke.

Longshadow looked down at the vial once more before hiding it in his pocket as Wonder Woman and Hawk jumped down seconds after the new saviors of his life had disappeared leaving him both cold and hopeful…

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"I see you failed to mention the side effects of the solution," said Tala, as she and Waller walked through the entrance of Location X12. "I do not trust him; He'll get suspicious soon, and he might even get under the League's radar."

Waller smiled, "That won't be problem, by the time the League has dealt with the side effects, they'll be begging to get rid of him themselves. Especially when he starts craving the dark magic, like a drug."

Dr. Hamilton met them in the foray, "How was your meeting with Longshadow 101?"

"Promising." Waller patted him on the shoulder; this mission was beginning to work out in a very unexpected way, through the weak link of the group. "Very promising, Dr. Hamilton."

Tala walked slowly behind down another corridor, before General Wade Eiling made a mysterious appearance next to her, "I assume you did what we asked?"

"Yes," She whispered, "Everything is going to plan, and my part of deal?"

General Eiling smiled assuredly, "Complete access to the Magical Artifacts room, and most of all, first choice of any acquisition from Mission X: Watchtower."

Tala placed a seductive hand under his chin before kissing his cheek cheerfully, "Perfect." The seductress started walking away.

"You're, er, not coming?" asked General Eiling, nodding his head towards his own sleeping quarters.

"No, baby, maybe later; I have a old friend I need to catch up with in the next two days; it's a full moon" said Tala, "Plus, he could be a real help with my new present…"

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_Voices_, Wonder Woman had distinctly heard someone else talking below with Longshadow, a female voice, as she jumped down after Hawk.

"There he is!" Hawk shouted, he and Wonder Woman had dug through at least 30 feet of debris leading to the last level of garage, the red and white clothed hero had spotted Longshadow standing a couple feet from where he landed.

"Longshadow!" Wonder Woman walked slowly to the hero noting how he didn't seem to hear her at first; she repeated his name.

The young man turned, and Diana couldn't help but catch the sudden, guilty look upon his face; like the saying, 'a deer caught in the headlights'. He was even trying to conceal something behind his back replacing the previous look with relief, he smiled at his rescuers, "You made it!"

Diana smiled back, still noting how he was deliberately avoiding her eyes, "I just wish we got here sooner. Are you okay?"

"Never better," He stretched his arm, feeling wonderfully rejuvenated. "I even feel strong enough to get out of this mess"

"Good, that's great," said Hawk, Diana reached down for the broken communicator piece that Longshadow had dropped, "You gave us quite a scare up there, and we couldn't even reach your communicator or anything; as if there some sort of interference…"

"Maybe from all the debris," Knowing it was a lie, Batman had created these communicators to hold durability with any frequency especially during disasters, "But as you can see, I'm fine."

"Yeah, I guess, just that I thought heard some other voices," Wonder Woman looked around, there was something not only strange going on with young man in front of her, but she sensed that someone or something else had been down here with Longshadow, even noting a smaller set of fresh footprints on the dirty ground.

"Was there anyone else down here with you?" asked Hawk.

Longshadow was starting to get irritated, "Look what's with the third degree, I'm pretty sure I was alone on my own or else I would tell you."

Diana looked again at Longshadow for some reason her senses were going haywire, and she couldn't help but sense that he was lying to them, but why?

"Look, we're just worried and tired…Are you sure you're okay? You seem ticked or something." asked Hawk, "From the looks of it that was a quite a fall you took, are you sure you don't want us to call J'onn for an emergency transport?"

_They're treating me like I'm some kind of child_, a voice in him said, _like I can't make my own damn decisions_, before he gave an angry reply, "I said I'm fine! Let's head up."

Hawk glanced at Diana, who kept staring at the usually passive and kind, young man she thought she knew. Something was wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it, and he was trying very hard to hide the item behind his back, and away from her eyes.

"I'm fine, really" He didn't mean to snap at his rescuers, and suddenly felt an uneasy tension with them; he had never felt like this before. He'd never considered himself an angry person, but now he felt like lashing out, especially at Diana, as she continued to scrutinize him with a suspicious look in her eyes. _That's right be surprised, _he inwardly smiled, _I'm not just a weak, little hero you can baby anymore. I'm different now, I can be real man now…_

"Well, we should get back to the watchtower." Diana watched Longshadow grow stretching him above ground, before she flew herself and Hawk to the surface level.

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"I don't see anything wrong with it." said Hawk, as the group, sans Longshadow and Wonder Woman, sat down for a traditional, post-mission dinner, "I think it's about time 'Baby Stilts' got a backbone, even taking a snap at me was pretty cool."

"You think we baby him?" asked Ice.

"No, I think Wonder Woman babies him, I mean she always places him with her on missions, always rights up mission logs with him, practically does it for him, and has lunch with him more than any of us including Superman." Hawk took a bite out of his burger, "She's like his mom or something."

"Or it could be something else" said Elongated Man, "You know, maybe there's something going on between Stilts and the Princess"

"Really?" Fire gasped, she turned to Ice, "Do you think so?"

Ice shrugged, "I don't know really, maybe she's pities him in a way. You know with the, um, thing he has…"

All the others grew silent under the unsaid, "D" word since everyone aboard the Watchtower knew about Longshadow's condition, or lack there of.

"Death you mean?" responded Dove, "And I don't really think its pity, I think she genuinely cares for him, like she does rest of us."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at him; did the Ice Princess really care for all of them like that?

"Yes, she cares for all us, probably more than any of original members. She's tough on the outside, but on the inside there's a kind and true heart for everyone."

"Another sappy speech to go in the archives." Hawk muttered to the rest group, who snickered in response.

"Whatever with that logic!" said Elongated Man, loud enough for a passing Flash to accidentally overhear. "There is something going on between Diana and Stilts, and I'm going to prove it"

"Just like you were going to prove the whole Wonder Woman and Batman theory?" Ice smiled; Elongated Man had spent weeks trying to find clues in that relationship until Batman had personally put a stop to that with a month's worth of probation.

"Yeah, I've pretty much given up on that" He laughed with the rest of the group, as Flash walked abnormally slow, at least for him; was there something that Wondy wasn't telling him about?

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"And that's the last part." Finished Wonder Woman leaning on the consul as Batman finished typing the mission log for the past, few hours.

She had came into the monitor room, all worried about Longshadow's outburst, and was suddenly elated in seeing Batman on duty during her free time. Not like, she was expecting him or anything, just it was nice to see him every once and a while especially alone, and this was twice in one day. Although, he showed his displeasure at having to replace another communicator as the things were starting to get more expensive to acquiesce every year.

"You're missing a piece of information." Batman turned his chair to face her, tenting his hands in that annoying, but kind of cute way, "You know, the part with Longshadow, and a big hole in the ground."

"Right, of course, that." Said Wonder Woman, "He fell protecting Ice and I from the disaster, but he was only under for 45 minutes and 13 seconds."

"I know, I had watched the mission playback, and it was 45 minutes and 14 seconds. But nonetheless, good work rescuing him." Batman pulled out a blue file, the health data logs, "What was his status again?"

"He seemed fine, a little irritable, but fine none the less when we found him." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "I did recommend a visit to the infirmary for a check-up so I suggest you take a copy from the follow-up evaluation."

"He was irritable?"

"Yes, it was silly really," Diana recalled, "I just asked a couple questions to see if he was okay, and I swore I had heard another voice down where he was, before we rescued him."

"A voice?" Batman was now closely examining the damage to Longshadow's communicator, which appeared to have been short-circuited…internally, "How did the boy say his communicator broke again?

"He said it fell out of his ear when he fell."

With no external scratches to the hardware, "Really?"

"Yes, may I ask why you asked?"

"No, you may not," Batman stood up slipping the communicator into his pocket for further investigation on what really happened to it, "What you can do is remind Longshadow of his daily physical analysis with J'onn, and let him know that I know that he forgot to take his serum again for the night. Need not remind you what happened last time, when he didn't take it."

Diana remembered, it was a week after he had came to live at the Watchtower, he passed out on one of her missions; concussed and almost battered to death by a triumph Bizarro before she had intervened. Batman had nearly a conniption explaining the importance of Longshadow's health in connection with the medicine explaining that the hero was the most vulnerable without it; she had vowed not to let that happen again.

To Batman's further annoyance, Flash came blazing into the room, causing papers to fly about as usual, before appearing face to face with Diana, smiling mischievously, "There's my favorite princess in the world, and may I say you look especially beautiful today in your, um, armor."

Wonder Woman smiled, while also noting how Batman hadn't made his usual exit yet; he was actually picking up the fallen papers from the desk. "What are you up to today, Flash?"

"Why do I have to be up to something?" He than received a raised eyebrow, and a glare from Batman as he placed the stack of papers in a neat folder.

"Okay, I just overheard a rumor that you're, you've, I, well you know" Flash lowered his voice, "You and Longshadow that you two have a thing now?"

_A thing? _Batman thought, not that he cared or anything, but why would Diana have a thing with Longshadow? It's not like he hadn't considered the closeness of her relationship with the younger hero, but he had assumed it was on concrete basis of friendship; he was slowly placing the folder back into the filing cabinet.

Diana responded with a small giggle, but Batman couldn't help but note that it took awhile for her to reply, "Just friendship Flash, and I can't help but genuinely care about him. He has helped the League a lot with his abilities, strength, and even kindness."

_Now, what the hell did genuinely care mean?_ Both Batman and Flash thought at the same time. _'For a second there, you almost sound as jealous as Flash is',_Batman thought, but if I was jealous that would mean I would have feelings for her, which wasn't an option; right?

"Now, if you excuse me gentleman," Diana was about to walk away, when Flash gave her another smile reserved for more questions, "Unless, you have something else to ask, Wally?"

"Well, since you're both here," Flash gave a quick smile to Batman; of course the action wasn't reciprocated. "I also heard that there's a little something going on between Wonder Woman and Batman too."

Wonder Woman briefly glanced at Bruce, blushing briefly, trying to hide any reaction, while feeling Batman's eyes on her behind his mask. _What to say? _She thought,_ well Flash I think there's something between Batman and I, but someone is just too stubborn to admit his feelings or do anything about it!_ Yes, she was almost tempted to blurt that out, but decided against it sensing Batman's tense reaction over the topic. She would even place a bet that he wished he had left sooner, than just stand there being annoyingly observant.

"There isn't anything going on, is there?" asked Flash, staring between the two them noting a strange tension between them, "I mean come on, you're Wonder Woman and the Batman; it kind of creepy…"

"All there is, well I think, in that-" _Think of some more words_, thought Diana, _come on you can think of more words…_

"Admiration," Batman began another memorized speech, "And mutual respect, friendship, camaraderie, and definitely no involvement of any romantic feelings, non whatsoever." So many questions suddenly popped into the detective's mind: _why did it suddenly feel like he was lying? And to whom, Flash or Diana?_

"Or any desires for that matter." She put a reassuring hand on Flash's shoulder, which Batman irritatingly noticed, "So the answer is without a doubt, no, there is nothing going on between Batman and I, or ever for that matter."

"Oh, okay" said Flash, "Just making sure, you know with the whole Watchtower gossip going on, I actually thought it was true for a minute."

"That's great, glad it got all cleared up." Diana looked at the two of them, Batman receiving a cold glance before leaving obviously for the training room. She was angry; he knew that from her fast strides away from them, most likely because of him.

"Woo!" Flash slapped Batman in the back, "Sorry, I had to get that out of my system, you know? It just eats at you, whenever you need to know something like that. Right?"

"Right," replied Batman before forcefully removing Flash hand, and making a quick exit to the teleportation pad.

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_Later on that night…_

Longshadow laid in bed, his heart pounding with anticipation and awareness he had never felt before. He stared at his digital clock subconsciously counting down, he had twenty minutes to make this feeling last forever as the empty vial laid draining in his sink.

He stared at his phone for the sixtieth time, he needed to make a choice soon, and he nervously flipped through the orange folder again. What exactly did have to lose...a vague vision of Diana appeared in his mind, but even losing her trust and that of the League seemed to matter less and less.

He stood up without feeling the familiar pain in his joints; he couldn't just let this feeling go away so easily as this was healthiest he had ever felt since joining the League.

"Everything will be okay in the end," _The outcome will always justify the means in the end_, he recalled hearing that from Batman once. With the same assurance, he grabbed his cell phone.

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"I knew you would make the right decision, Longshadow." Waller smiled, as she leaned back in her chair in her office. _Fool, he had no idea what he was in for or even better, what the League was in for_, "Don't forget, the red ribbon on the ladder; okay, sweet dreams."

She hung up the phone, and smiled. _Such a foolish child_, the boy didn't even consider that the folder within his grasp had a tracking device, and within that tracking device came a hacking router with enough frequency to get into Watchtower system provided by a certain hairless benefactor. The serum also served as indicator to let Cadmus know the exact the time and day that boy would be close meeting his end, something that she had bent the truth a little on; frankly, like the League, no one except God or whoever was in charge up there could determine that exact amount of time Longshadow had to live until the very last hour. But the one thing she did know for sure, was that there was no way to cure him at least none ending in less painful death.

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	5. Monday

Disclaimer: Blah blah, none of these characters belong to me (I wish, jk...)

**Monday**

It was early morning when the loud booming voice of General Wade Eiling shouted at all the experiments to wake up, "Containments up, breakfast at eight hundred hours!"

After a couple seconds a more soothing, computerized female voice followed, "Good morning, today's schedule starts with breakfast at eight hundred hours, check ups at ten hundred hours, entertainment at thirteen hundred hours…"

"And nap time at fifteen hundred hours" muttered Shifter turning slightly to look at the digital clock, it was seven in the morning on whatever day it was since the containments weren't allowed to know the exact day or month living in this hell hole. All she knew was that it was a much longer time in between from the pain of losing her last Ultimen brethren, Juice, then when she lost Downpour ages ago…time seemed to matter less and less as she woke up each morning wondering, and wishing for it all to come to an end.

She could still remember that dark evening when Downpour was suffering from sharp pains in his chest, and an hour later, her brother was rushed out of his cell and into the blue room; she screaming for him in his wake. The blue room was the last place any containment saw before being disposed of, and after that she never heard from him again and another containment was put in his chamber.

For some reason, Ms. Waller and Dr. Hamilton were keeping her alive longer than any of the other contained Ultimen; training her and doing more experiments on her shape-shifting abilities. Shifter powers' had evolved greatly as she was now able to transform to multiple animals, and she was getting closer to the ultimate goal: mimicking human forms.

In the beginning it frustrated her greatly that they seemed to only want to keep her for their own plans, but now all she could think about was avenging her brother's death on the one person they all blamed the most: Maxwell Lord.

So Shifter allowed for all the training exercises pushing her to her limits, while preparing secretly for when she would finally face the coward; that was what kept it her going each morning.

Now if she can only get her hand upon on a containment guard's badge…

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_Lord, how I hate Mondays_, thought the Green Lantern with a grimace; he had just been punched into another building, after barely catching another launched bus of fifteen people from a very ticked Sinestro.

It was suppose to be a simple, capture mission when J'onn located wanted villains, Sinestro and Giganta, at a small pier café in Metropolis. But of course it was a trap, as both villains, when spotting the heroes from afar, signaled a newly allied Deadshot to detonate the pier enraging Supergirl to take off and save all the tourists from falling into the lake below. An hour later, the fight had now led them into downtown area endangering more civilians going about their day. What angered John the most was that one his of subordinates, Longshadow, dared to ignore his orders twice; something that Green Lantern was going to make him regret later…

"Longshadow!" shouted Green Lantern, Sinestro was now using his ring to lift a trolley to toss around, while Deadshot continued shooting at him, "I could use some help over here!"

"Again, Mr. Lantern, I'm a little busy!" Longshadow was savagely determined to gain an upper hand against a surprisingly more agile Giganta, as he blocked more of her punches and tried a few of his own techniques.

So far his day had started off pretty well, waking up feeling not only healthier but also more powerful and stronger like Ms. Waller had promised. Most of all, it was the first night were he able to dream peacefully, no nightmares of a dying Wonder Woman. He also had amazing morning workout with the Flash had commenting on how he had broken a couple, new records. On top of all that, he was having increased thoughts of well, self-confidence, thoughts of seeking to be the greatest hero of them all; even stronger than Superman himself. He was finding himself dealing with everyday errands with less patience, and more of go attitude, which was showing on his mission today; but he didn't care, all that mattered was that he defeated all the villains once and for all.

His elation started turning downhill, when his hopes of spending some time with Wonder Woman were dashed, she had a day off today, where exactly? J'onn wouldn't tell him, instead the Martian put him on a mission with Green Lantern, while reminding him about keeping to his physicals when he returned. Since he was taking the new Cadmus serum, he had to be more careful in going to any physical especially when running blood tests; he was pretty sure the results would be able to detect the new substance in his cellular matrix. That he could worry about later, as the hero was now in another fight with a raving, red headed Giganta.

Green Lantern muttered an expletive, the boy was starting to try his nerves, as Sinestro threw both a trolley and semi-truck straight at him, "I don't care if your busy or not, Giganta's nothing! Taking care of Deadshot is first priority!"

"Nothing?" yelled an indignant Giganta before landing a powerful kick at Longshadow, who stumbled backwards into another, thankfully evacuated, building.

"You heard the man!" Supergirl flew onto the scene before landing a quick punch at Giganta, who stumbled backwards onto the street, "G.L. all the tourists are safe from the pier! What do you want me to do from here?"

"Take care of Giganta!" Green Lantern was able to set both vehicles safely to the ground, "And rookie, I will not ask again!"

Longshadow sat up, angry and little hurt for pride, that Giganta was able to get a one-up on his offensive, but decided to put a focus on Deadshot who hiding in the building across from him aiming for the water tower above Green Lantern's head. He quickly snatched the small man, who dropped his weapon, and watched the fight below between his Team Leader and Sinestro.

"G.L. heads up!" Supergirl then landed another punch against Giganta who fell backwards right before, Green Lantern was able to push Sinestro underneath the giantess' path. With a huge crash the villains were defeated, and Longshadow shrunk down to normal size.

Supergirl flew down to Green Lantern with an anxious look on her face, "So, Green Lantern, you're probably gonna tell me what I did wrong now?"

"Actually Kara, today is your lucky day," John's eyes narrowed upon the other hero, who was handing Deadshot to the authorities nearby, "My beef is with the rookie today…"

Kara should have taken the tone of voice as a sign to walk away and help with the clean up, but it was a nice change of pace to see someone else on the receiving end of Green Lantern's famous, rookie tirades.

"Mind telling me what exactly happened back there?" shouted John approaching face to face to Longshadow, "I don't know what the hell you were thinking back there, ignoring my commands and forgetting the safety of the civilians nearby, who by the way are and always the first priority to protect-"

"I had Giganta, I could have handled her and then helped you!" interrupted Longshadow, as Kara watched in awe, _did he not want to live to see tomorrow?_

"While Deadshot took out more people in streets below?" John pointed to the nearby ambulances, "Six people were hit, all of that could have been prevented if you had damned listen, and taken out Deadshot first!"

_Let it go_, thought Longshadow, but he couldn't seem to stop himself, "Why are you blaming this on me? It's not like you couldn't handle it own your own, it's as much your fault than mine."

Kara whistled low under her teeth, well lucky for Longshadow, that this wasn't Batman that he was back talking too…

John's eyes narrowed even more, not only was he angry but also greatly confused. What had gotten into the boy today? He usually was very polite and obedient, today he was one step short at being kicked out of the League for his insubordination, "I've had enough of this, three months, no active missions; try to listen to that!"

"Woah" whispered Kara hoping that Longshadow would just keep his mouth shut, but of course the guy had to yell a pathetic, "What! That's not fair!"

"Five months!" yelled Green Lantern.

Longshadow muttered, "Some Team Leader you are…"

Green Lantern turned around very quickly at Longshadow; _now he was asking for it_, thought Kara….

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A distance away from the battle, Wonder Woman was enjoying her weekly day off at the Greek Weaponry Exhibit in the Central City Natural History Museum. She had been looking forward to this for weeks, when Wally presented her with a free tour of the exhibit; he simply said an unknown benefactor had suggested to him. Of course, when asked if he, Wally West, would like to accompany her, he made the usual excuses about not really being into that history stuff and all, but instead opted to take her to a movie.

"And this right here was excavated on the Western Coast of Crete, it's a-"

"A Doru spear!" Gregory Simpson, the tour guide, smiled as the princess viewed the artifact enthusiastically; this had been fifteenth time she had interrupted him, his boss wasn't kidding when she said that Wonder Woman would not need very much of an explanation on the artifacts like the others he had often toured.

"And look at the craftivity of the spike, it's amazing! May I ask what kind of wood it's made of?"

Greg was once again, floored whenever she turned those beautiful sapphire eyes upon his own, the rumors had to be true that Wonder Woman, Princess Diana, was indeed a goddess amongst mere mortals, "Oh, um, Ash actually, makes it much lighter to aim at opponents."

Diana smiled, she was doing it again, being overly talkative over practically all the artifacts that she had practically grown up and knew by heart reminding her sadly of home. Phillipus, how excited you would have been to see this amazing craftsmanship, but of course, not as useful as the weapons forged in Themyscria. She smiled reminding herself to let the kind man give the tour, he had kindly promised.

"My apologies, Mr. Simpson, it must be very rude of me to keep interrupting you like this," She smiled prettily at him.

Not only was princess beautiful, but also gracious when she needn't be, Gregory reminisced as he couldn't believe his luck that his boss allowed him to be Wonder Woman's tour guide. _Well since it was nearing the end of tour, it wouldn't hurt to ask despite all the gossip tabloids_, thought Gregory; _she seemed to be waiting for a reply anyway_...

"Well, I just find it amazing how much knowledge you have on all of this," began Gregory superciliously smoothing out his thinning hairline.

"Yes, well growing up on an island I've had... um, that is actually a really long story; too long to tell." Diana was nervously smoothing out her white sundress; the man had that look on her face that most of men that came in her life usually seemed to have before they asking…

"I would actually love to hear all about it, perhaps over dinner? I know a very, romantic French restaurant across the street from the museum."

Diana's eyes widened looking surprised, "A date, you wish to date me? To court?"

Gregory smiled, laughing at her innocent presumptuousness, "Yes, when you put it that way, you're a very smart and beautiful woman, and I would like to get to know you better. So, what do you think?"

_Well, there it is again, thought the Princess, another chance for to date, and should she actually take it this time? And why couldn't she survive one day off without being asked out?_First it was police officer Bob this morning when she apprehended a suspect running away from a crime before she came here, and now this Gregory Simpson. But it wasn't like she didn't want to date, it was just that she couldn't at least that's what she told herself often these days or years with her mission with the League and everything else on top of that, and usually being called away anytime during the day as dating became an impossibility; unless it was the exception, a stubborn pointed-eared exception…

But looking into Mr. Simpson's brown eyes, maybe a date wouldn't be so bad; _I mean_, she thought, _I couldn't force myself to wait for Batman forever, and what if he never comes around or he never returns any of my feelings…_

"Well, Mr. Simpson, I guess it would be-" And as if the Fates sought to answer her doubts, the building began to rumble before an explosion was heard from above as Diana dove to cover Gregory from falling debris. When she looked up from all the smoke, there laid Batman in a heap of the rubble from, and what she could see strewn parts of a helicopter; lucky for him, the doru spear was aimed only a couple inches away from his head.

"What the-" squeaked Gregory, more shocked at the destruction of the exhibit, then the fact that Wonder Woman had almost said "yes" to a date with him.

"Mr. Simpson, I suggest you go to safety and call for help," Diana turned, her thoughts no longer on the tour guide, but on reaching Batman who appeared to be unconscious from the impact of the fall.

"Batman!" Diana flew over a bent rudder, and landed next to him. No injuries from what she could see, but still;_come on, Bruce Wayne, you do not get to die today…_

Diana leaned down, she could hear him breathing just fine, and hopefully it was just a concussion, "Bruce?"

Bruce Wayne had been knocked out plenty of times than well, any normal man. But this time was quite different, he usually woke up to either in chaos and screaming from an ensuing battle going on around him, a deafening silence that heightened his senses for any danger, or to a very relieved but disgruntled Alfred. Instead, he awoke to a sight of a beautiful glowing vision of raven locks and ocean-blue eyes; he had to even blink a couple more times to focus on the worried face of the last person he needed to see right now, Diana.

"Batman! Please, say something, are you okay?" Her soft hands were on his face as she tried to pat his face into consciousness before he put a reassuring hand on her own to stop, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Batman said gruffly, leaving his hand on hers a little longer than needed, "Where am I?"

"You fell, um, you're in the Central City Natural History Museum," Diana removed her hand from his face and hands; she was starting to get that tingling feeling again.

The man muttered an explicative standing up, and running (actually mostly stumbling) past her down the pile of rubble. Diana closely followed as Batman shot his grappling hook landing on the foray of the museum.

"Wait Batman, what happened to the people in the helicopter?" asked Diana, "I assume someone was flying…"

Bruce quickly brushed her off with quick explanation, "Got the pilot out before being blasted…she's fine."

"Blasted? Okay, mind telling me what's going on?" asked Diana, they walked outside noting more helicopter parts laid all around the parking lot, "Batman?"

"I don't need your help, Diana," replied Batman, before turning around finding the source of his problems today; Star Sapphire had stolen an atom disrupter from a Wayne Enterprises Warehouse that was the original blueprint of the teleportation pad used at the Watchtower. Long story short, Batman had tried to apprehend both the villainess and the atom disrupter turned weapon, while fighting off an allied Tsukuri, before being teleported from Gotham City to Central City. After he had pushed the pilot to safety, the last thing he remember was a bright flash of light…

"Take this Bat boy!" shouted Sapphire above as she shot at both he and Wonder Woman, who simple grabbed him, and flew them out of harm's way.

Diana gave him an indignant smile when she landed them a couple feet away, "You don't need my help?"

"Fine, separate Sapphire from that weapon, and I'll-" Batman suddenly pushed Diana out of the way from a sword-wielding Tsukuri a resounding clank followed as it hit the cement; Diana then responded with a quick punch that caught the female ninja off-guard, dropping the sword.

"And you'll handle Tsukuri, and disable the weapon; on it!" Diana than flew quickly above tackling an unsuspecting Star Sapphire; Bruce smiled, _now that's more like it_, before ducking from another one of Tsukuri's kicks.

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Longshadow huffed and puffed as he was forced to start day one of his punishment cleaning tables and helping the Galley staff in the cafeteria; needless to say, especially when the Flash catches site of you, it was very embarrassing.

"Hey stilts, you missed a spot!" called Flash, laughing at the hairnet-covered hero as he finished washing down the meal trays.

"Thanks Flash," He muttered wiping down another table; he turned abruptly accidentally knocking down a chair, "Damn!"

"Hey, let me help," Stargirl placed the chair correctly in place, "How, um, how's it going?"

"How do ya think its going?" Longshadow leaned tiredly against the wall, "Six months of this, cleaning tables every week; it's not fair!"

"Yeah, I know, I heard," Stargirl gave him one of her best smiles; she couldn't help but notice how the moonlight made his eyes sparkle in a certain way, "Know how you feel, I had to do this for three weeks straight…"

Longshadow grimaced wondering how many people knew about the incident today, or even worse, whether Wonder Woman knew yet; his biggest worry was disappointing her, "So everyone knows?"

"Oh yeah, I guess, Kara was retelling the story to everyone listening before the monthly meeting."

"Great." That's all he needed this on top of this sudden downward spiral of misery and-wait a minute; Longshadow glanced at clock behind Stargirl, it was time, to go get another dosage of the serum.

"I'm really sorry about today, Longshadow, is there anything I could do? Maybe we can hang out, and talk a little bit more…" asked Stargirl, inwardly hoping to gain some alone time with him.

"Actually, I'm good, really," The next javelin to leave the watchtower was in ten minutes, Longshadow took off his hairnet and threw his cleaning towel in the sink, "I gotta go, thanks um, er-"

"Courtney, you know Stargirl, I am at every morning meeting with you…" Was he ever going to notice her? Courtney thought miserably on her small crush on the new hero that had caught her eye since the first day she had introduced herself; unfortunately, he could never seem to remember her name, but he knew Wonder Woman's name by heart…

"Oh yeah, of course Stargirl, good seeing you again," Longshadow than ran to the nearest elevator, he had to get a spot on the next javelin heading for Keystone City.

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"Well, that was fun, another nice way to end my day off as usual," muttered Diana, who was watching the police load a very beaten and defeated Star Sapphire and Tsukuri into a van headed for jail. The authorities had taken the disabled atom disrupter from Batman, while humorously promising to get to back to Bruce Wayne himself.

Diana sat on the stoop in her now torn and ruined sun dress, at least it bought and not borrowed outfit this from Vixen; she wondered if she was ever going to experience an uneventful day off. Batman walked slowly to her, she noted the slow limp to his right leg.

"Well now that's taken cared of," Batman was about to go on a logistics spiel when he noticed the very tired look on Diana's face; regret replaced his need for procedures as he realized it was another one her day offs ruined, "Thank you, Diana for helping me today."

A surprised look fell upon her features, _what could the Batman not be grateful…_He turned around prepared to head straight to the mansion to file the post mission report.

"Batman," He stopped and turned as Diana looked up at him, a couple inches below him, Bruce smiled inwardly realizing she was bare-footed, "You're hurt."

Batman didn't skip a beat as he had also seen the thin, red gash running across her stomach, one of the consequences for not wearing her armor, "You are too, head to the Watchtower infirmary and have J'onn take a look at that."

Diana smiled, "Not unless, you come with me…"

_Say no_, said his inner Batman, Bruce contemplated the pros and cons of going with the princess to the infirmary; nothing could go wrong emotionally if he just accompanied her for a check up. It would save time for him having to call J'onn to check on her status, which he was planning to do after filing the report. The only problem was that the more time Bruce Wayne spent with Diana, even in battle, the more he was becoming entranced by a sudden glow that came about her, whenever he was near her, and he was increasingly unable to recall the reasoning for the distance in their relationship.

As usual, Diana decided to make the choice for him, putting her hands on her hips, she said indignantly, "Batman, you are clearly hurt, I am not taking 'no' for an answer."

_Fine by me_, Batman thought, rolling his eyes as he pushed his Justice League communicator to contact Teleportation Command, he received the warning tone of thirty seconds to teleportation.

The Batman decided to have a little fun in catching the Wonder Woman a little off guard. He furtively looked right and left to ensure no one was looking, before moving dangerously close to Diana with one arm around her small waist and another on her back, pulling her towards him. Noting her sudden intake of breath, he whispered playfully in her ear, "Don't let go, Princess."

Diana couldn't help but feel the familiar sensations, whenever she was touching Bruce, before hiding her smile of both shock and pleasure in the crook of his neck; it was almost like they were dancing again. A second later before a cop turned to look at the heroes, the covert pair disappeared in glimmer of rainbow-colored lights…

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"Turn left on High Street," muttered Longshadow, it had been fifteen minutes since he arrived at Keystone City, Kansas and he was now following the directions given by Waller to get his next dosage of the Cadmus serum.

He had eventually turned off his communicator as soon as he left the Watchtower orbit making sure no one knew where he was going or to raise any suspicions; he had even taken the precaution to change his uniform into his workout clothes to avoid being seen. _If the serum was so good for him_, said a small doubtful voice, _then why was taking all these precautions to not getting caught; wouldn't League understand eventually why he needed it to survive?_

No, they would be angry, Longshadow figured that he would at least tell them as soon as he passed the five-day mark of fate; he now called it, and knew that there be an even greater ensuing punishment for not telling them. He knew more than anyone about the tension between the Cadmus Project and the Justice League. And having one of their members (who was even a former experiment of the program) seeking favors from the program that sought to get rid of them, was probably not a good thing. But when weighing the pros and cons as usual he considered the one person, he was afraid the most to disappoint, Diana, at least in his mind he could imagine would be the most understanding; she was the only one he could probably ever trust at least that's what he thought.

He found the inconspicuous red ribbon tied on a rung of the ladder as written in his instructions; he climbed to the fourth floor and went to third window to his right. Longshadow took a deep breath hiding a small pocket blade in the sleeve jacket as he came prepared just in case of a trap, he trusted Waller, but he wasn't stupid knowing the woman could have have him eliminated without batting one eyelash; he tapped on the window five times signaling, whoever was inside.

"What time is it?" Came a gruff, female voice.

That was code for the password as written in the instructions. He took out the small piece of paper, he had written it on as the password changed everyday, "Eleven to the half of a quarter."

The window lifted slightly revealing a brunette, yet haggard looking woman with bright green eyes who he had never seen before when he was with the Ultimen nor did she seem a likely candidate for the Cadmus Project.

Her eyes held a sad and tired look, "You're not Tea."

"No, um, I'm Longshadow from the Ultimen," said Longshadow, who was Tea? He had originally assumed to be the only one doing this covert exercise for the serum…

"Right, Waller told me all about you," She reached behind her grabbing a brown box, "I guess we'll be seeing each other more often…"

"Wait," Longshadow had to know who she was, "You work for Cadmus too? Can you tell me who are?"

"Like everyone else in that damn project, I didn't have a choice, thanks to my deadbeat so-called husband. But you may call me, Carolyn, Carolyn Lord," She than lowered the cardboard covered windowpane to a very confused Longshadow; Carolyn Lord could she be Maxwell Lord's wife. If so, how did she get mixed up all of this? And even worse, did that mean that the bastard, Maxwell Lord, could be still alive…

Longshadow decided he had better leave soon before anyone noticed that he had left from the Watchtower; he jumped down cradling the brown box safely against his chest thoughts of revenge and excitement for a new dosage racing through his mind.

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Her hair smelt like a mix between vanilla and lavender, Batman had decided, as he leaned forward cleaning the gash on the side of her stomach. Unfortunately for the both of them, J'onn had to join Superman on the intergalactic mission leaving them to fix their injuries, and Watchtower medical interns were probably too busy with a luckily, empty infirmary; they had both rationalized pathetically.

So, Batman led them to a secure and private medical room with no cameras, and the availability of any medical equipment they would need. It also wasn't like Bruce Wayne didn't know what he doing, he had plenty of experience with his own injuries to know by heart what to do, and after taking care of stitching up his own wound on his thigh (his emotions not allowing Diana's capable hands to help especially close in that proximity) he was now taking care of Diana's gash on her stomach. She smelt wonderful, Bruce couldn't help but memorize her scent; _I mean, the woman always smelt great_, but she had just taken a shower and hair was glistening beneath the Headlamp .

She winced a bit, when he began swabbing alcohol on a deeper part of the cut, "That's what you get for not wearing your armor."

"Well, you could have been less stubborn and called one of us earlier to help," sighed Diana, "It would have been less of hassle."

A hassle, thought Batman, as he threw away some of the cleaning swabs, "My apologies if it was such hassle for you. By the way, did Mr. Simpson give you good tour?" _Damn, now why the hell did have to he let that slip out?_

_Was he jealous?_ Diana's eyes widened, she wasn't even going to bother to ask how he knew who her tour guide was or what she was doing on her day off as it was in typical Bruce fashion to know the whereabouts of anyone or everyone; it wasn't like he considered her special or anything, "Well, Bruce, you as usual cease to amaze me; look, the League is here for a reason to help in any means possible, it could be a good use every once and while."

Batman suddenly felt guilty remembering that he did ruin her day off; he was even the one who suggested to Wally to talk to his curator friend to give Diana a special tour, "Diana, I'm sorry."

_The Batman even apologizes_, thought Diana, smiling to herself as he began to wrap the wound efficiently, "Batman, I don't need your apology, as least not this time, it's what I'm here to do."

He stopped suddenly, and she put a hand on under his chin so he could look directly at her, while noting how his temperature had rapidly risen above normal, "I'll be there for you no matter what, whenever you need me, you can just ask."

_If only it was that easy_, thought Bruce as he patted down the material; but it could be that simple said a small persistent voice in his head, she could be the one you could take that chance with…

But did he want to risk taking any chances with her? Especially if it could mean endangering her life; lost in his thoughts, the Batman did not take care to realize that he was closely leaning forward towards Diana, who was practically a breath away. The princess' heart was racing as she felt his eyes upon her own; his seemed to be searching for something. What was he looking for exactly? She was almost afraid to ask but hoped that she could give, the Batman, Bruce Wayne whatever he was looking for.

That damn glow was enticing him to the point of putting a pleasant un-gauntleted hand upon her shoulder before leaning closer, his lips barely touching her ruby red smile.

A knock on the door interrupted his ascent before bringing them back to reality; he looked at her now-closed eyes with regret, Batman couldn't let these moments keep happening, not if he stood a chance in protecting her and most of all his mission.

"Come in!" Batman said gruffly, Diana eyes' fluttered open confused at first, but accepting nonetheless, at least she was getting closer to whatever goal she had yet to decide upon.

The Green Lantern sheepishly entered the room, "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

Batman noticeably tensed as he tossed the medical supply leftovers into the trash can; Diana still had part of her shirt lifted up exposing some of her sports bra along with her bandage, "No John, it's okay, how are you?"

"Fine actually, Diana, I came to let you know that Longshadow was put on probation today," John said this shutting the door, accidentally focusing on a slightly disheveled Wonder Woman, before turning his gaze on the ceiling above.

"Oh, well, I'm sure it was in good reason," said Diana, a little disappointed and shocked that it was Longshadow being punished; he usually seemed to be so obedient and polite. And why was John so intent on the blinding light of the ceiling?

"What did the rookie do?" Batman interrupted the conversation, standing up and moving in front of her once more. Diana took a sharp breath when she felt his, now gauntleted hands pull down her shirt inconspicuously over the bandage covering the wound; her face began to turn a very rosy red.

"Usual cocky behavior, endangering civilians and showboating in fighting with Giganta, the same stuff we see in all rookies except I'm more shocked it came from him," commented Green Lantern, who caught a glance at the now covered up Diana before looking back at her, "He's usually on best behavior, one of my favorites actually out of all the rookies."

"Was he acting strange at all? Did he seem sick?" asked Diana.

"No, just his attitude needs a fix. Has he seen J'onn lately? You know for his daily check-ups."

Batman shook his head, "No, he hasn't, that's two days in row, is he at the Watchtower?"

"No, he left the Watchtower an hour ago actually in a hurry with Flash's group," Flash had volunteered to fly the javelin nightly to drop any workers living in Midwest; it not only benefited some of the workers living in Metropolis and Central City, but he could go home nightly to replenish and head to his own night job.

"Why would he leave the Watchtower?" wondered Diana.

"I don't quite know what's going on with kid today," John shrugged, "Maybe he's just having an off day."

"Whatever the problem is if you remind him again to visit the infirmary; we can't afford anything happening to him," Batman made his exit.

"Thank you, John," said Diana, grabbing a plastic bag before running off to catch Batman before he left. John smiled wickedly, _wait to I tell the Flash, what he just missed out on…_

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Everything in the corridor seemed a whole lot brighter as Longshadow happily strolled to his room; he had taken the serum immediately before teleporting back to the Watchtower. Circumstances aside, probation for six months and all, he felt amazing and willing to take on the world with just one hand being the best superhero out of all of Justice League, and maybe gaining a certain raven-haired Wonder Woman by his side.

"Batman wait!" Diana's voice, Longshadow realized, she was finally back from her day off. He peered behind the corner hoping to speak to her after her conversation with Batman.

"Diana, I have to go," Batman and Diana stood face to face, she holding a plastic bag behind her back.

"I know, but I couldn't just let you leave without this," She showed him the bag, and for the first time since he been at Watchtower, he actually saw Batman smile, suffice it was a very quick two second lifting of a frown, but a smile nonetheless. Longshadow thought humorously, was Wonder Woman the only one capable in making the Batman smile; _they must be really close friends for the Dark Knight to trust her like that…_

Batman muttered something incoherent that he failed to catch, but he did hear Diana respond with her twinkling laughter, "I know, just take it anyways please."

He lifted a hand, and suddenly Diana turned her head looking conspiratorially around the corridor, as Longshadow flattened himself against the wall, _did she sense he was here?_ He than heard her say in very low, but an obvious affectionate tone, "Please think about what said, I meant every word, that I'll always be there for you." Longshadow was able to look behind the corner in time to see Diana slightly step up, and put her lips upon Batman's cheek.

The disheartened hero took a sharp intake of breath that he prayed that the pair wouldn't hear as moved to the nearest door opening to a custodian's closet. _Was there something that he missed going on between Wonder Woman and Batman? And the Batman, of all people!_He thought bitterly, and how could he be so stupid? Why would someone like Wonder Woman, a princess of all people and someone who was often called a goddess among men, actually care for him that way…He actually thought he was special that he could be that man that was good enough for her; what was he thinking?

_Why don't you just prove it to her?_ said a small voice in his head, _prove to her that you could be a much better superhero than the Batman._Yeah, what does that Batman got that I don't have? thought Longshadow, I'll show Wonder Woman what she really needs and maybe, just maybe, she will one day look at him in that special way too…

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"So your like a shapeshifter, and all?" asked the a newly, hired prepubescent security guard, "You can change into anything?"

"Yeah," smiled Shifter leaning against her cell door, "Pretty much, Mr…"

"Brandon," the security guard lifted his badge as a reflex, "Lance Brandon, so that's a pretty cool trick for a chick."

"Yeah, I guess it is Lance," She smiled prettily; their interesting conversation was interrupted by the loudspeaker, "Lights out in five minutes!"

The security guard looked up at the clock, they had been talking for over a half a hour, "Well, I guess it's a goodnight then."

He turned to leave before Shifter called out, "Wait Lance, may I ask a favor?"

"Yeah, sure"

"It's stupid really, and it's probably too much to ask…"

Lance leaned up against the window to look into her blank-colored eyes before he whispered. "Too much would be asking me to break you out of here, and you're not asking me that are you?"

Shifter laughed, "No, of course not, that would be crazy. It's actually something else. A goodnight kiss?"

"Oh, a kiss?"

"Yeah," She began to turn away, "Well, if that's too much…"

"No, um, you're kind of a pretty girl, I don't mind," Lance looked to his right, all the guards were busy watching the football game on the satellite television, "Come here."

She leaned up, and let her lips press against his while keeping her hands touching and memorizing his badge; Lance felt slightly a strange charge surge through his system, but that was something that could have easily been ignored. Shifter than moved away from him suddenly, "Thanks that's all I needed."

"Oh, um, no problem, anytime," smiled Lance as he clumsily stumbled backwards onto the floor.

"Hey Brandon, get up ya ass! You need to help with night checks!" shouted another security guard.

"Bye" smiled Lance running up the stairs, feeling a little happier that he a got kiss from that hot chick, but felt a suddenly weak, maybe he could use a drink to loosen up…

"Bye," called out Shifter, laughing inwardly, as she turned to her long dresser mirror transforming in a white flash of light into an exact copy of security guard, Lance Brandon.

'_They're all going to pay,' _she thought, _'I'm coming for you, Maxwell Lord…'_

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OK, hopefully another chapter will be up next weekend, please R&R and have a good week :-)


	6. Tuesday

_Disclaimer: Blah blah, none of these characters belong to me (I wish, jk...) New Chapter 12/14/2008 :-D REVIEWS would be much appreciated...Please Enjoy :-D_

**Tuesday**

"Ms. Waller? Excuse me, Ms. Waller? There's been an emergency…"

"What, what time is it?" Amanda Waller awoke in the early morning hearing the shrill tone from her house phone.

"It's, um, 3:30 ma'am in the morning," The young man on the phone sounded nervous.

_He should be_, thought Amanda, as she sat up in bed, "What kind of emergency?"

"We had an escape, one of the inmates got out."

"What?" Waller stood up already preparing in her mind the next course of action; _someone was going to pay_…

"Yes, um, Containment #987 also known as Shifter, she's gone."

_Shifter? What was she up too_…"What do you mean she's gone?"

"She escaped in the middle of the night, we don't know how. General Eiling told us to call you first, then look over the surveillance tapes."

"Yes, that will be best," Waller already had summoned her private jet, "My ETA is in five hours."

"Oh, thank you, very much ma'am!"

Waller smiled, "I'm sorry, son, I wasn't able to get your name."

"Oh, um, Lance, Lance Brandon…"

"Well, Mr. Brandon, after this little adventure. I suggest that you pack what little belongings you have. You're fired." Waller hung up the phone, now to think of more important things like where exactly would Containment #987 be heading; where could she even go?

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In the Batcave, Batman was observing the increased number of frequency signals on a radar signal that was encrypted into the Cadmus communication system. There seemed to be a lot of excitement going on this morning as multiple phone calls and emails were being made between Miami, and Location X12 in Havana, Cuba.

_'What's going on today?'_He thought before pressing a communication button, "Oracle, I need you to keep an eye on the following signals for Transmitter #12."

_"Will do Batman."_ Came the reply.

_'Hopefully, that will come up with a lead,'_ thought Batman before removing his cowl tiredly.

It had been a very long night; patrol had been interesting to say the least, having to disable multiple bombs from a downtown hotel in Gotham City courtesy of the Joker. It was another one of those nights…but at least it was a complex distraction from a certain flirtatious Amazon, who was becoming more and more difficult to avoid.

_'What am I going to do about her?'_ thought he; _simple get rid of her fast_replied his inner Bat; _she is no use to us at all_. Bruce would have accepted the simple answer, probably even a few months ago, but he had come to the realization that there was no escaping Diana, princess of Themyscira. She was everywhere even when she was not exactly there often lingering in his thoughts and his dreams. He was beginning to welcome her presence, as he was becoming to admit that he actually had feelings for the Amazon.

_'Maybe, Alfred is right,'_ Bruce thought amusedly, _'I am growing up_…'

"What's next on the agenda?" muttered Bruce, looking at the list of items to take a look at it.

_Earpiece, Longshadow_, he had scribbled down, Bruce opened up a drawer pulling out the plastic bag holding Longshadow's damaged earpiece from a previous battle. He turned on a light at an examination table, and pulled out a tiny screwdriver so he could get better look at the circuitry.

He opened it, and too his surprise the entire inside of the tiny communication device was completely melted, while the outer shell was perfectly intact, like brand new, he frowned. Bruce took a longer look at it before ascertaining that the device had indeed suffered from internal damage, but from what exactly? Wayne Enterprises had designed new line of earpieces that were waterproof and could transmit on practically any frequency in the entire world, specifically from the Watchtower communication system; Bruce Wayne should know about the design since he had helped create it.

_'Then what could have done this?'_ thought Bruce, before putting the device back together; it was beyond repair now.

Batman could only think of one thing that could have had this effect, and realized that he would need a second opinion…

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_'Where was she? And why was she taking so long?'_ thought Longshadow as he waited for his favorite superherione, Wonder Woman, to walk out of the monitor womb.

He had woken up extra early, and done his training exercises, showered, then reported to the Galley to serve food and take out the trash. All in the hopes of impressing Diana, showing her that he could take on all his responsibilities without complaint; even though it was forced upon him as a punishment. Longshadow had even saved a blueberry muffin, and had Stargirl show him how to make a mocha; this was sure to impress her…

The sliding door open revealing a very immaculate, Wonder Woman, and her hair was wet from a previous shower, and was curling on the side of her neck; she must have had a busy morning.

"Good morning, Wonder Woman," He revealed himself from his waiting spot in the doorway, "I hope you're having good day."

Diana smiled, "Yes, of course, even better know that I see you." She saw the breakfast goodies in Longshadow's hands, "Is that for me?"

Longshadow grinned even more noting how the light seemed to make her eyes glow brighter and brighter, "Er-yes, of course, all for you. I know you had a busy morning and all, just wanted to make sure you got some breakfast."

"Thank you, that is very sweet, I just came back from a mission saving a village in the Indies from a mudslide," She sipped her beloved mocha, already planning on getting the iced version in the afternoon. "What have you been up too? Besides getting into trouble, I heard."

Longshadow's face turned a little red, she knew about yesterday's incident, "Oh er, um, yeah I totally regret that, but I have been really good in just doing my punishment."

Wonder Woman put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "That is very good, Longshadow, and it is okay. I think you just have to listen better especially when your Team Leader gives a command. We all make mistakes, and it happens to the best of us."

Longshadow felt a little bit better, "Yeah, but you're Princess Diana, you have never been on probation or anything like that."

Diana gave a fake conspiring look before joking, "Well, there is a first time for everything."

Longshadow laughed with her, "You are so funny!" He then blushed even more, could he be any lamer; he had just guffawed with the girl of his dreams…

Diana smiled about to go on to the rest of her day before Longshadow stopped her, "Um, Wonder Woman, what are your plans for today?"

"Well, I am due to coordinate some training exercises, then in the afternoon I'm going to help the Atom replace one of the generators."

"Interesting, er, you know I can help. I mean with generator just in case you can use some extra strength and all," He hesitated remembering that this was Wonder Woman that he was talking too, "Not that you need a extra hand, you're strong enough on your own. And-"

"That would be great, Longshadow." Diana smiled turning around before leaving him behind, "I'm meeting Ray around 2:00 in the Red Room, and I guess I will see you then?"

"Okay great, thank you!" Longshadow smiled watching her walk away. Diana, she was just so, well wonderful…

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Zatanna Zatara was called up to the monitor womb; she had a message waiting for her from Gotham City, which could only be from…

"Zatanna, I need you to look at something for me," said the harsh baritone of the one and only, sometimes rude Batman.

"And good morning to you too, Batman," Zantanna stood in front of a viewing screen; J'onn J'onzz had left a small plastic bag near the keyboard, it appeared to be holding one of many earpieces that the League provided.

"I sent it up for you to do further investigation on," Batman explained.

"Uh, Batman, I'm a magician not exactly a repairwoman," Zatanna looked at it carefully feeling a strange presence that had once touched the tiny earpiece; magic perhaps…

"The device had severe internal damage, nothing that I can properly assess. But I assume that it's been damaged by-"

"Magic, some sort of magic at least nothing, I have not quite seen before," Zatanna had opened the piece, and saw the melted circuitry, "May I ask why you want me to look at this piece of junk? I mean don't you have million of these?"

"I have a hunch," Batman said cryptically, "I just need you to confirm it."

_Oh, Bruce, never wants to go into specifics until need be_… "Okay, I can try doing a spell to determine what happened, but that might take awhile."

"Right, thank you. I have to follow up another lead, but let me know as soon as possible when you find something. Batman out," Batman was about to finish, before Zatanna got the last word...

"Rodger that, captain Bat," She joked, before he promptly hung up. It could be worse, Zatanna realized, at least the Batman had become more polite ever since a certain princess crossed path. _Thank the gods_…

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"Why I be dipped…" commented Waller, as she looked over the surveillance tapes that captured the great escape of Containment #987. The little clone had finally learned how to transform into human form taking on the appearance of the soon to be terminated, Lance Brandon. She had simply changed her body including copying the image of a security access card that released her from the cell allowing Shifter to quietly walk out of the Location X12 compound; the clone then appeared to be heading to north to seaport, Amanda Waller assumed.

"Ma'am, what is our next course of action?" asked General Eiling, who had already thoroughly investigated each surveillance tape, "She obviously left Cuba by now, probably to the States."

"I agree, but we need to figure out where she would be heading," said Waller, "She has no real relatives, no friends, she would be stupid to go the League. And I know she has to be smart enough to realize all the authorities are on our side; they'd turn her back to us in a heartbeat."

"Right, I'll send a small operative team to track her; I guess I'll be heading back to the States too," General Eiling assessed it would take the containment at least half a day to get to American land, maybe less if the clone shape shifts into a fast-running and swimming creature. _This was going to be a challenge_…

"What do we do if they find her? Kill on spot?" General Eiling hoped, one last abomination out of the way.

"No, we bring her back here, then I'll decide what to do," said Waller, "Are main priority is to keep this containment escape as quiet as possible. Away from the eyes of the media, the government, and especially the Justice League."

Eiling agreed, the last thing the Cadmus Project needed was the Justice League to catch wind of this especially concerning their little "experiments."

"Affirmed, this will be a covert mission. No one will find out about this, ma'am," General Eiling walked out.

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"A couple more inches higher, Longshadow." Wonder Woman motioned for Longshadow to lift the new generator higher as the Atom looked on nearby.

"That's great, you two, having two super strengthed superheroes definitely gets this job done a lot quicker," smiled Atom as he typed a code into the main computer, "Generator is up, and working."

"Good, so we are done?" asked Longshadow, Atom nodded continuing to check on the other generators.

Diana handed him a rag to clean up with, "Pretty much, but Atom is right, we did finish a lot more sooner then I had predicted."

"Is that wrong? Should I have gone slower?"

Diana smiled, "No, that just gives me even more free time. What about you, Longshadow, what do you have to do for the rest of the day?"

_'Get more serum,_' thought Longshadow. He was due in Keystone City in about an hour, "Um, you know, things. I have galley duty later and all."

"Things, you say? Do these things include your daily appointment with J'onn?"

He felt a strange heat on the back of his neck, why was Diana even asking in the first place? "Well, you know, I guess I have been busy and that, er...Listen, Diana, I've been feeling really good lately, I just don't think I have to go to these physicals anymore."

"Longshadow," Diana admonished, "No, matter how you feel, you know that J'onn needs to check on your progress to make sure everything is okay. I mean how do you know this 'good feeling' is not some sign of…"

She did not finish the sentence, Longshadow was grateful at least she was showing some concern for his well-being, "I just care about you, Longshadow, I do not want anything to happen to you. Precautions are important including this physical."

Longshadow smiled, Diana cared about him… "Okay, um, you're right. I will go."

"Good, I'll let J'onn know, so he will be expecting you," said Diana planning to stop by the infirmary before heading out, "No excuses, Longshadow, make sure you go as soon as possible. And after your duties in the cafeteria, I will meet you at the teleportation chamber."

"Okay, I will-" Did she just ask him to meet with her after galley clean-up, "Um, meet you at the teleportation chamber?"

"Yes, I have to thank you for helping me today." Diana put a hand on his arm, "Dinner, my treat, besides I am craving Thai food. Meet me at the teleportation chamber, around 8:00?"

Longshadow smile grew bigger; maybe there was hope, "Yeah, that would make me very happy. Thank you so much, Wonder Woman."

Stargirl was walking down the hallway, she had practically searched the entire Watchtower for a certain hero; she passed the Red Room when she saw Longshadow and Wonder Woman standing very close to one another. Diana had her hand on Longshadow's arm, while he had his hand on her regal shoulder. _What was going on between those two?_

"I really appreciate it," She heard Longshadow, his voice was laced with affection and an unmistakable longing, "I really do, thank you, Diana."

"No problem, Longshadow, see you soon." Wonder Woman turned, and walked away not seeing an envious Stargirl hiding in the corridor.

Longshadow looked at the spot where Diana left feeling incredibly excited for their meeting at 8:00…but he had other things to worry about like how he was going avoid his infirmary appointment with J'onn. And have enough time to get his next fix of the Cadmus serum.

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"Everyone must disembark this ship!" called one of the shipmates as Shifter disguised as a elderly woman finally set her feet on American soil after several long months of captivity. She breathed in, the ocean air and looked around finally being able to be amongst civilization. Unfortunately, not for long…

The 'elderly woman' walked to a tourist shop before being directed to the nearest phone booth. First goal was to find where Maxwell Lord was hiding maybe in a national listings archive of some sort. Her hand was about to touch the door of the booth, when another gloved hand stopped her.

"Excuse me miss, but I don't think you'll find what you need in a phone book." Shifter looked up to see a sun glassed, dark-suited man, who she hoped and prayed, was not a Cadmus Project creep.

"I am not going back! If you think you're taking me in alive, I'll-" The man stopped her signaling for Shifter to follow him to a dark alley.

"I am certainly not from Cadmus, but I was sent by a friend interested in helping you in your search."

_'A friend?'_ thought Shifter, who knew already that Containment #987 had escaped, "And who exactly would I be looking for?"

"Maxwell Lord, and I can help, I have everything you need to get to him. To do 'business', I assume?" The man gave her a friendly smile; they both knew what _'business'_ meant.

Shifter smiled back, but was still a little suspicious about his motives. "And what is in it for you?"

"One less nuisance to worry about, and little revenge on the Cadmus Project." The man watched the woman's reaction, now he had her attention. "Do we have a deal?"

The elderly woman smiled back at him, "Yes, but do you mine telling me your name?" The man motioned Shifter to an awaiting black limousine to finish their conversation.

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After canceling another business meeting that afternoon, Bruce Wayne was planning to stumble in drunk anyway; Batman was breaking and entering into a house in Keystone City left of High Street. He had gotten a lead a couple hours after Oracle was able to tap into a phone call that was directed at this apartment belonging to woman named Carolyn.

He snuck in through a window leading to a tiny kitchen, looking around Batman began to check the surroundings for any suspicious clues, most of all to find out what did "Carolyn" have anything to do with the Cadmus Project. That puzzled him the most as it seemed to much of a risk to give duties to a civilian, who worked part-time at the local diner; the organization was more careful and covert in hiding their activities.

Batman was looking through the woman's mail, when he spotted a framed photograph of younger-looking Carolyn with Maxwell Lord at a beach; they appeared to be very much in love, she even had wedding band on her left hand. He then heard the door being unlocked. He stealthy moved very quickly to the nearest hiding spot.

The woman, he assumed to be "Carolyn", was brunette and haggard-looking woman who appeared much older then the picture he just saw. Her movements during the next hour was very routine, taking off her jacket, warming some hot water, then sitting at the small table near the window nervously tapping her fingers on the surface as if she was waiting for something or someone…

Batman then heard a tap on the window, six times, the woman coughed into her hand before gruffly saying, "What time is it?"

Another voice replied, a voice that Bruce knew he had heard before, "Twelve to the third and to a half a quarter."

The woman seemed to acknowledge the answer, and opened the window revealing to Batman's both surprise and anger, Longshadow dressed in dark clothing. HIs eyes narrowed, _'What the hell is the kid doing here?'_

Carolyn smiled at him before walking over to a tin cookie jar, removing the top to reveal a brown bag; she then pulled out a brown rectangular box, "Come for the fix of the day?"

"Yes, of course Carolyn, um you having a good day?" asked Longshadow nervously, and Batman noted that the boy knew the woman's name, _they must already know each other..._

"Here it is," She handed him the box. "My superiors also wanted to let you know that in two days you have to come with me to visit one of their specialists."

"Oh, okay, um that's only gonna be for a day?" asked Longshadow, he slipped the box into his backpack.

"Who knows? A day or two, I would think. I really don't care, see you tomorrow." Carolyn shut the door in his face, and turned to check on her scolding teakettle.

"You have some interesting visitors, Mrs. Lord." Carolyn gasped and turned, and saw a very foreboding looking Batman standing in her kitchen.

She was about to sputter into accusations on his breaking and entering, when the Batman motioned for her to be quiet, "Turn off all the communication devices, or I'll do it for you."

_'How did he know?'_ She wondered, a couple of technicians had indeed installed hearing pieces in every room of the apartment; just as a precaution, Ms. Waller had assured her.

Carolyn nodded, a little unsettled by the very presence of the Batman; she walked around apartment carefully turning off each device. She kept her hand in her pocket protecting an emergency signal device to alert any close by operatives from Cadmus. Carolyn was not going to signal anyone at that very minute, first she needed to find out what the Batman wanted.

"What the hell are you doing here? Did the League send you?" He did not answer as he appeared to be confirming whether or not all devices where turned off; he walked stiffly around the apartment.

"Acknowledged," Batman muttered before turning to her, "I'm here on a investigation, I am sure you have heard of the Cadmus project…"

She put her hands on her hips, "I have nothing to do with them."

"But your husband does, you're married to Maxwell Lord. Are you not?"

Carolyn Lord was silent, turning to turn off the fire from the stove, "I will ask you to leave, Batman, you're not going to get anything out of me."

But Batman had already worked out what was going on within his mind; he just needed the right confirmation. He spoke very calmly, "You're working for Cadmus, I assume as a liaison to those outside of the project including Longshadow. But you're not doing it on your accord, I presume…"

Batman watched her back stiffen as she poured tea into her cup, "You're paying for what your husband did to Cadmus, they're using you as retribution; you have to work with them in order to keep him alive."

She sipped her tea, "How do you know Max is even alive?"

"Mrs. Lord, I know your husband is alive." Carolyn looked at the Batman directly into his opaque lenses, and even with his foreboding appearance; she could not help but want to put her trust in him. She missed her husband having not heard from him for two and half months.

"They haven't done anything to him yet?" Her voice was cracking with emotion, "They haven't terminated him?"

"No, that I am sure. I can help you, Carolyn, and your husband," Batman put a hand on her shoulder, "You just have to trust me."

She looked at him warily, "Now, how do you expect me to trust you or the League for that matter?"

"I don't expect you too, but it's better then having to trust a organization that threatens you and your husband into seclusion, while constantly having to watch your back; I can protect you."

Carolyn nodded, and was quiet for a moment before taking another sip of her tea, "I guess this is the part where I have tell you everything."

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"Well, here I am," mumbled Shifter, still in her previous disguise of the old woman; the girl stood outside the condominium holding a sheet paper with written instructions on how to get into the building and the exact address where Maxwell Lord lived.

It had been a long journey taking most of the day, and it would have been longer if it was not for her "benefactor". After leaving in the black limousine that took her straight to a private airstrip at the Miami International Airport, she was dropped off alone with a envelope before boarding a private jet; she was not allowed to talk anyone else including the pilot. Shifter spent most of the flight reading over and over the letter including all the instructions, and direction that lead to her Maxwell Lord's whereabouts. The letter simply said:

_ Good Luck!  
Your Benefactor,  
L.L._

Shifter also tried to figure out if she could recall anyone with the initials, _'L.L.'_, but she could not quite determine who was the kind person that helped her to complete her final task: kill Maxwell Lord.

The elderly woman took a deep breath typed in the coded instructions that let her into the building, and stepped into the elevator.

_'Maxwell Lord is gonna pay,'_ she thought to herself as the elevator doors closed.

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"Cadmus has been able to get back into contact with Longshadow," Batman's opaque lenses narrowed, "They're trying to use him to infiltrate the database in the Watchtower."

J'onn J'onzz stood across the room reviewing all mission data for the day when Batman rushed into the room with new information on the Cadmus Project; Zatanna was soon called to join their meeting.

"You're right, Batman, about the magic damaging the earpiece," Zatanna held up the bag holding the device, "But was the most shocking was who damaged it. Have you ever heard of a dark magic sorceress named Tala?"

J'onn typed into their villain roster, the sorceress' name did appear but with no previous incidents with the League, "This Tala took out the com-link?"

"Yes, but I do not understand why. Batman, when did this happen?" asked Zatanna.

"About two days ago, during that mission with Wonder Woman in Kolkata," Batman pulled up the mission details, "Longshadow had disappeared for 45 minutes, I think Cadmus might have sent some of their operatives to talk to him during that time; to make Longshadow an offer that he could not refuse."

"An offer?" asked Zatanna.

"To cure him somehow," Batman pulled a small vial filled with a dark liquid, "With this, everyday he has to sneak off to a secret location in Keystone city, to get a daily dosage. Cadmus promised that whatever is in here will help save him."

Zatanna eyes widened the moment she saw what was in Batman's hand, "Bruce, do you know what is that exactly?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me." He gave the vial to her, "Longshadow's been taking that everyday."

"That stupid, stupid boy," Zatanna muttered under her breath, "This is a liquidated form of black magic from a Onyx crystal only a powerful being could conjure this up, and I assume in great quantities too."

"A powerful being, I presume is Tala, she is working with the Cadmus project?" commented J'onn.

"Yes, she made the serum that was being delivered to Longshadow," explained Batman.

"Not without a price," Zatanna explained, "Yes, the serum could provide Longshadow with longevity to live, but if Tala was the one who conjured up the spell. Then she as the conjurer has complete control over him once he agrees to take the dosage, Tala can take over his mind, body, actions or his thoughts, and even-"

"His attitude." Finished Batman, "That is why he has been avoiding going to physicals, he knows that we would be able to detect the serum in his system."

J'onn nodded, "Yes, Diana had set an appointment for him today; he did not show."

"Onyx crystal does tint a carrier's blood black too," said Zatanna, "Most black magic spells do."

"This means that Cadmus can use Longshadow to infiltrate our data base," J'onn sat down in front of the computer counsel preparing for a long night in setting up firewalls, and checking for spyware manually. Wayne Enterprises had designed a very complex, encrypted system, but any League member could simply type in their identification code to pull up numerous files; Longshadow had an I.D. code. He began typing before asking, "Batman, what would be our next course of action?"

"We find Longshadow," Batman said simply. "Do you know his whereabouts?"

"I do," said Zatanna, before J'onn would answer, slightly grimacing after realizing that perhaps the Batman would not like this next piece of news, "He and Wonder Woman went out to dinner awhile ago."

Batman looked at Zatanna, scowled even more, and turned to J'onn, "Put me on Diana's frequency signal."

Zatanna smiled behind his back, _'This was going to be good…_'

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"So then, Mirror Master said to Captain Cold, 'I'd love to shatter your dreams!'" Diana laughed at the end of another one of Longshadow's musings from one of his past missions.

They were sitting on a grassy knoll overlooking Keystone city, their usual spot ever since he had first gotten to know Diana. He remembered how her eyes use to brighten even more, while looking upon the many lights and sounds of the night covering the cityscape below; it was a nice place to help her think she had said. And now it was their spot, Longshadow had christened, noting the very romantic atmosphere as the night stars shined down upon the two heroes.

Diana gathered some trash from their Thai Food picnic, her favorite pick in particular, and leaned against her knees looking at the city, "I love this place, it is always so beautiful at night."

Longshadow looked back at her, the moon seemed to reflect a ominous glow upon her body; her raven tresses moved with the wind. _He had to tell her…_

"You're beautiful, Diana," She did not seem to hear him at first as she still gazed at the numerous, mesmerizing lights, but she turned with her widened azure eyes.

"Oh, um Longshadow, thank you." Diana looked more into Longshadow's eyes noting that all to familiar look that she had seen in many eyes before; an attraction, "But, you know, that you and I are just-"

Longshadow looked away for a moment before turning towards her, "You do not have to finish, Diana, I just wanted to let you know that I think you're beautiful."

The princess looked confused at first before offering him a kind smile, "Okay, Longshadow."

He stood up to grab the trash to toss in a nearby trashcan; Wonder Woman watched her young protégé carefully, _could Longshadow have feelings for her?_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she her heard a warning beep on her com-link indicating a incoming call, "Wonder Woman, here."

"Diana is Longshadow with you?" Batman's deep voice rang within her ear.

"Good evening to you too, Batman." Diana replied receiving a usual huff, and she overheard a small, light chuckle in the background. _Was Zatanna with him?_

"Good evening, princess, answer the question."

Diana waited a moment realizing that she was not going to receive a polite "please" from the Batman; that ass… "Yes, Longshadow is with me, we went out to dinner. Is there a problem?"

"No, I need to verify something, ask Longshadow if he went to his physical today."

Diana was about to ask why, when Longshadow returned, "Um, Longshadow, I could not remember exactly, did you go to your infirmary appointment today?"

"Yes, of course, around 4:00," Longshadow gave her a convincing smile; Wonder Woman automatically sensed he was lying.

"Cold hands, and all." He joked leaning forward to take her empty soda cup, "Be right back."

Diana frowned as she looked after him, _why was Longshadow lying?_ "Did you hear that?"

"You know he is lying, Diana." It was not a question, it was a statement; Bruce knew personally about Diana's intuitive ability to sense when someone was being truthful.

"Yes, but why?" She mumbled back; Longshadow was heading back up the hill.

"Finish your date with Longshadow, then meet me at the Watchtower."

Date? "Batman, this is not-"

Batman cut her off, before hanging up on her, "Conference Room C!"

_'What am I going to do with him?'_Wonder Woman rolled her eyes before putting on a fake, non-agitated smile for Longshadow._'Men,'_ she thought inwardly.

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Maxwell Lord unlocked the door to his apartment, humming a simple tune, before placing a bag of groceries on the counter in his kitchen. He put the milk in the refrigerator, before setting the pile of his soon to be unread mail near his answering machine; he had one message.

A small fly was buzzing about the room, Max swatted at it uselessly, at least he had bought bug spray. Lord pressed the button on the machine; his heart palpitated faster during the entire message carrying his beloved wife's voice.

_"Max, it's me, Carol. I just I had to call you before I had to go. I, um, got some help Maxie to get us out of this, all of this. And I think I can really trust this person. Look as much as I love you, I can't keep going on like this and not seeing my family, your family, our friends, you. We need help, I can't tell you very much now, and I want you to call me. You have my number; I love you, Max, please please consider what I'm saying. See you soon, and I love you."_

_'She said she loved me three times,'_ Was the last, calm thought that ran through Max's mind before he heard a familiar, female voice from his past, "Why isn't that sweet, Max?"

Maxwell turned to see a very, angry looking Shifter from his once managed group, the Ultimen, "We did not know you had little romance on the side. What's her name? Maybe I'll come and visit her too, when I'm done with you."

"Now, Shifter, please I know you're angry." He reached into his pocket pressing the button to his emergency device, "But let's be reasonable, you got out, I can help now."

"Oh, I know what kind of help you think you can offer." Shifter was circling him slowly, "You left us there to rot in that hell hole."

"They didn't give me a choice," stammered Maxwell, reaching behind him for a kitchen knife, "They, the Cadmus Project, threatened my wife; they threatened to kill us both if we got in the way."

"You should have helped us, went to media, anything to protect us!" shouted Shifter, "You were completely useless, and you didn't care about us at all. And now you're going to pay, Maxwell Lord!"

"Please, I-" Maxwell then tried to defend himself by thrusting the kitchen knife at the girl, who simple dodged it before tightly grasping him by the neck; chocking him until he dropped the knife.

"Aw, Max, your not gonna try to get rid me that quickly." She slammed his head against the kitchen counter, "I'm gonna make this nice and slow just for you using only my bare hands."

Maxwell sputtered and gasped for air, his head was clouding from the blinding pain. But Shifter showed no remorse, and simply said "And Maxie, try not to scream to loud."

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**To be Continued….**

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**AN: Okay, that it for now. I really like working on this story, it's definetly a welcome distraction from finals. Once again, please, pretty please Review, Review Review!!!! That will also distract me too, jk, have a good week everyone!**

**********Next Chapter, Wednesday: Longshadow continues his romantics advances, Batman makes a gruesome discovery, and Wonder Woman begins to realize the dark path that her protégé, Longshadow, has followed. Would she be able to bring him back?**


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